The Years Before Ever After
by Princess Shahrazad
Summary: It was six years after the tower incident that claimed Eugene's life. Is there a happily ever after for Rapunzel after that? Final chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Remember Eugene said that he didn't remember the two weeks celebration? That's because he wasn't there! This is what happened before happily ever efter.

**Chapter One**

The castle has settled down for the night. And it was very late. The excitement of the lost princess' return was expected. The kind of sleepessness it would cause was normal. But then, as Rapunzel collapsed in a heap in her bedroom, kept in tandem with her age through the years, so did life in the castle.

Queen Annalise cuddled her long-lost daughter to sleep. Bits and pieces of Rapunzel's rescue had escaped from the young girl's lips as she drifted to sleep. Queen Annalise did not have to make her daughter explain herself. She had finally returned and she and King Basilius were forever grateful for her existence. The kingdom intelligence's swift investigation had already verified the truth to the very last detail. And when Rapunzel was allowed to the throne room's balcony, Queen Annalise and King Basilius already knew taht the princess had return. She was brought back by her rescuer, a wanted thief that went by the name Flynn Rider, whose born name was Eugene Fitzherbert. When father, mother and daughter were overwhelmed by their unprecendented reunion, Mr. Fitzherbert was at peace standing in the sideline.

One look at his unassuming face and the long tear in his worn leather vest which had a garish stain of magenta, the Queen could only imagine the unspeakable pain the young man had gone through for her daughter. She could only imagine the kind of life he had led and how it forced him to make decisions that were so mistaken and misleading. She could only picture in her mind the loneliness and rejections and abuse that he had suffered all his life and all that finally brought him to the accursed tower that kept Rapunzel imprisoned. And despite all that, he had managed to make a decision that was so difficult and yet was the right thing to do. Queen Annalise realised that as lonely as Rapuzel had been imprisoned the tower, so had been . She knew that eventhough he was free to go anywhere he wanted, but he could never belong to any home or anyone. When Rapunzel had that woman Gothel, Eugene Fitzherbert had none.

He is the loneliest of the lonely, Queen Annalise said quietly and held her hand out toward the young man. He looked absolutely at peace but there was an unmistakable look of longing in his hazel eyes. As if he was gazing at something too good to be true. The young man held out his hand in kind to her, his face signalling that he was being courteus. The Queen suprised him when she pulled him into joining the human chain of embrace that lasted until all the four of them got sore.

So, the castle was now asleep but for one man. He was dressed in new gear, a brown leather vest that matched his eyes and a new pair of black leather riding pants and new white cotton shirt to replace his torn and bloody one. But Eugene liked his boots so much, he won't take a replacement even of the finest kind. He knew they always bite when first worn, and for the kind of travelling he was about to do tonight, he could not risk breaking into a new pair of boots. He had in his satchel packed with palace kitchen made bread and some roasted meat. One more thing before he was ready to go.

"Leaving so soon, Mr. Fitzherbert?" A voice stopped Eugene in the middle of his track. Behind him was the lithe and regal figure of Queen Annalise, the woman who gave birth to the girl of his dreams.

"Your Majesty, forgive me. I didn't intend to cause fanfare over my insignificant business of coming and going," Eugene said, after clearing his throat of some stubborn phlegm.

"I understand, Mr. Fitzherbert, yourself being a man who has lived all his life with the means of avoiding detection," the Queen responded with a smile. Eugene felt a lot better seeing that. He know at least he was not getting hung at the gallows for leaving and not claiming his prize. By the way, he was thinking, did the royal couple offered him anything for bringing their daughter back. Not that he cared for prizes, but at least he will not be hanged.

"You read me like a book, your majesty."

"The Tales of Flynnegan Rider by –"

"Wilhemina Marlowe-Shakepeare?" They both ended the sentence together. They almost jumped into laughter but held their emotions in check.

"Is that a symbolism or a reference or a background literature, your majesty?" Flynn said, always being the one who wanted to have the last line.

"Jokes aside, Mr. Fitzherbert, have you considered my daughter's feelings about your sudden and unannounced departure the moment she finds out?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"And?"

"That is why I'm asking your generosity to be the guardian of this letter, which is to be given to your daughter, the Crown Princess of Corona."

Eugene handed to Queen Annalise an envelope with both hands.

"Tell me your reasons, Mr. Fitzherbert."

"The envelope is not sealed your majesty. Farewell."

"One moment, Mr. Fitzherbert."

"Your majesty."

"There is one detail that was brought to my attention about the rescue. "

"What is it your majesty?" Eugene asked, his brows furrowed into a crook. He was not ready to relive the nightmare but the queen had gotten his attention.

"The woman Gothel, there was not anything left of her."

"Of course your majesty, she turned to dust."

"Yes, even that, I would expect the intelligence to recover some dust, and any item of her clothing. It was as if, all the evidence of her existence on that fateful day was wiped clean. I know she existed because my daughter painted her form on the walls of the tower. But, other than that, Gothel was only images and words.

And the one who thrusted a long dagger into his gut! Eugene thought bitterly and jumped into a sickening realization – he didn't even have the scar to prove it!

"There must be something wrong, your majesty, but you have my word that I will not rest until I find out what happened to Gothel's remains."

"The more the reason you must stay in this castle, Mr. Fitzherbert," the Queen was begging in the most kingly way she knew how.

"The last time someone said something of that effect to somebody, the story ended in a catastrophe," Eugene said, making the decision he made final. He was never the kind that stick around, anyway, king, castle, or not.

" I must remain free to keep my mind and body up to the task, your majesty. Remember the letter."

When the Queen was inspecting the envelope, her eyes flitted away from Eugene for a split second. When she looked up again, Eugene Fitzherbert was already gone,leaving one of the thick curtains of a large window moving ever so slightly, signalling his exit. Or was it the wind?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mother, Father. I hope it is not too rude for me to ask something?" Rapunzel said as she sat for breakfast in the royal dining hall with her parents.

"Of course not, princess. What is it?" The King said.

"Why isn't Eugene joining us for breakfast?"

Both father and mother looked at one another uneasily. The mother nodded at the father and the unspoken deal was struck. King Basilius cleared his throat.

"Mr. Fitzherbert left during the night."

At this statement, Rapunzel gave a quizzical look. The look that showed she was more puzzled than she was devastated. The king and queen had no idea what had trespassed between their daughter and Mr. Fitzherbert during their adventure other than the stabbing, so they assumed that it was alright for Rapunzel to be puzzled rather than traumatized.

"Did he say why he left, Father?"

Queen Annalise answered for her husband.

"He didn't say why even though I was there when he went out into the night. But he left something for you."

Queen Annalise pushed an envelope with four fingers carefully on the smooth surface of the table to Rapunzel's side of the table.

"He didn't seal the envelope, but your father and I will not read it unless we have your consent."

"My consent? Why?"

"Well, it is important that we do not invade your privacy. We will respect your decision on this matter, whatever it is going to be."

They could see that the ideas of privacy and respect and decisions are alien to Rapunzel. But the girl showed that she was grateful her parents were teaching her new things.

"Thank you," Rapunzel said and she opened the envelope. Rapunzel unfolded a piece of paper. With a low tone, she read the contents of the letter, penned in bold cursive strokes, aloud, much to her parents' pleasure.

'Hey Blondie (Wait, you're no longer blond), Rapunzel (Wait, can I call you that now that you're royalty), angel (my favourite now but you'll laugh at me). I'll stick to Blondie.

So Blondie,

Once, I dreamt of owning a castle. Once, I dreamt of living on an island that I owned. I also dreamt of being tanned, rested and alone. After the Mother Gothel incident, I got two out of five, kind of. Your parents are generous but I can't stay here. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve you. I don't deserve your parents. I don't deserve the castle on an island.

What if someone else had came up that tower? I came up that tower by mere accident. I was a random character. Then, I fell in love with you. And suddenly I was dying. Also, I didn't believe in your hair. A cut on the hand? Sure, that's child's play. But putting ripped insides and sliced giblets together, not to mention bringing back breath into my lungs and bringing back my superior faculty into my brains – that's impossible. So, I cut your hair to spite Gothel, who by the way had hurt my feelings, among other things. I knew I was irreparable and completely broken. So, waste not, want not.

I didn't know she was going to turn to dust, which was really peachy. And then, for such trivial decision, you brought me back to life. And returned my affection for you – which is the best thing that had happened to me. EVER.

And suddenly, you're the lost princess. Whose father happened to own a castle on an island!

It's too complicated for me to explain this fully. I want to deserve all these. I want to deserve your affection. And I promise you, the moment I know I truly deserve you, I will return to seek your hand in marriage.

Yours truly,

Eugene

"Uh," the Queen gasped. King Basilius had tears running down both his cheeks and there was suppressed sobbing through his nose. The queen patted his husband's hand.

"I'm so very sorry, baby. I wish I could have made this right for you. I should have chained him to the wall –"the Queen stammered as the King's sobbing grew louder. Then, they were surprised to see a smile flickered on Rapunzel's face.

"Mother, actually, I was expecting that he would do that. I'm glad he did,"Rapunzel said cheerfully as she tears apart a baguette. A green amphibian came out of nowhere and climbed Rapunzel's shoulder. The green thing nodded to the princess' words.

"What?" The King said, now totally embarrassed of his spectacular sobbing and tearing up.

"I always know that he is not the type I can keep. For that, I have Pascal," Rapunzel patted Pascal's little hand. Pascal nodded again.

"The Gothel woman has turned our daughter into a heartless and unfeeling human being," the king said, his voice hoarse with phlegm.

"Shush," the Queen signaled.

"But I'll miss him, though. And he will keep his word, no matter how long it will take him to do it. He'll come back."

The three ate breakfast in silence. After breakfast, Rapunzel requested that she wanted to see the castle's library. And she was shown to a warehouse of books. Rapunzel inspected the shelves and finally found what she was was looking for. A shelf full with works of a woman named Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare, _The Tales of Flynnegan Rider_. There were volumes and volumes of them. _The Tales of Flynnegan Rider: The Treasure of Skeleton Island, The Princess of Samarkhand, The Kingdom of Ice, Revenge of the Djinn, The Secret of the Seven Seas, The Baronness Westenra, The Pirates of the Malacca Straits,_ _Vlad the Impaler_ and countless others.

Rapunzel opened of the volumes and saw a black and white lithograph of a tall, lean young man in a neat looking vest and a pair of strong boots. He has a perfectly chiseled face, sharp and strong nose, long sideburns and longish hair and that unmistakable tuft of facial hair on his chin. Something tugged Rapunzel in her chest. Her soul felt like the dead weight of Mother Gothel. Tears fell silently from her eyes. Pascal wrapped his tail around her neck.

Eugene arrived at the Black Swan tired but totally lucid. The ill-kept inn was the closest thing he had as a home in his adult years. He paid a silver coin for a dingy room so he could sleep until the next day. He slumped on the straw mattress lined with a quilt and he closed his eyes. In his mind, pictures ran like through it. Mother Gothel was in most of it. Her remains were not found. Eugene wanted to brush it off as a case of negligence. One of the members of the intelligence wanted a souvenir of the whole case and secretly and dishonestly took Gothel's ashes, clothes, mantle, etc. Nothing to worry about. The Captain of the Guards almost had him hanged without a trial two days ago. Taking Gothel's cape and underwear was nothing compared to the kind of corruption happening in the kingdom's law enforcement system, Eugene swore.

He was still thinking about Gothel and the stuff of nightmares she put him through when she felt a hand on his fully-clothed chest. He instantly became aware of what or who was on top of him.

"Lucy!" He gasped. The raven-haired woman was the inn's favourite entertainer. She pleased very few people and Flynn Rider was one of the chosen. But she never got to him because he was always going somewhere! And now, she got him good. Actually, she already had undone his vest buckles and was working on his shirt.

"Where have you been, Rider?"

"To hell and back."

"My heaven is open."

"No, Lucy. I'm tired. I need to get some sleep."

"Sleep then."

"No."

She was undressing him in such quickness that surprised him. But then she gasped.

"Where did d you get that?" She said.

"What?"

"The scar."

"What scar?"

Then Lucy seemed to get back into her mood and touched his exposed torso, tracing her index finger from his lower ribs in a long line to the skin just above his navel.

"Flynn Rider, give it to me!"

Eugene jumped from the bed and inspected himself. He had a scar from the Gothel incident. This wasn't there the first time he checked. It was there in the tower. It wasn't there when he cleaned and changed. And now here it is! He knew in the instant that the Queen was right. Something was wrong with Gothel's demise. And he checked his hand. There was a scar there, too. He had to go back to the tower.

"I have to go!"

Eugene ran out of the inn, to the stable and jumped onto his white horse.

"Come on, Max. Let's see if you can beat your previous record.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The sky was showing the signs of dawn's first light when Eugene arrived at the tower. It gave him chills that he had to actually go to this tower EVERYDAY. Three days in a row now! He didn't know if this could go on for another day. But this was something that he had to do. Eugene checked the spot under the window of the tower and and there was nothing there. Gothel's cape and flowing red dress were no longer on the ground while he knew that was the case when he and Rapunzel walked away from the tower for the last time, or so he thought. He was convinced that one of the intelligence had taken it, but now that the scars that he wasn't supposed to have had appeared, he was beginning to think that something else was happening. But, almost instantly he thought that maybe because now Rapunzel had lost all her healing powers, he would have those scars. Everything is the way it supposed to be. He was cut and he was healed. There should be a scar. He was stabbed and he was healed. He was supposed to have the scar.

"I'm gonna go up, so make yourself discrete," Eugene said to Maximus. The horse smirked. The equine-canine didn't like it to be made waiting. Eugene didn't waste his time climbing up the tower. He used the secret staircase and entered the living floor that had staged his nightmare twenty four hours ago.

"Tell me what you are, Gothel," Eugene said. He saw up-ended drawers and strewn items, the mess created by the kingdom's intelligence. He could see that they found nothing. Gothel's life in the tower was just a small part of her history. While the tower was everything Rapunzel had for a life, Gothel lived hers outside as much as she wanted. For all he knew, she could used to have a day job somewhere in town and Rapunzel would not know it. She probably made frequent multiple day trips all over the kingdom, judging by how easily she had left Rapunzel for three days to find paint made from white shells. She could have just bought the item from a shop and be back in less than a day, but she might had wanted to take a little detour here and there, basking in the freedom of jailing an innocent girl. All the while, Eugene avoided looking at the spot where he had bled out to death. Oh the indignity! He cursed under his breath.

A clumsy, reckless sound from the bottom of the tower made Eugene jump. Someone was getting up to the living space. He had to hide and where else should he do that but the closet. The unmistakable feeling of déjà vu invaded him like a sickness. Well, he thought, at least he is conscious this time. From the closet's keyhole he spied the space before him.

He saw two men. One was tall and thin, wearing a black cape and his head hooded. From his vantage point, Eugene could see that the tall man had black holes for eyes. His white beard was another prominent feature of his face. The other was short and stocky, and wore an attire with less seriousness, a pair of trousers and shirt and a jacket. He wore a hat. He also carried a large sack on his back.

"I built this tower for her nineteen years ago and in return she promised me to share her eternal life. As long as she lived with her youth and beauty, I will have mine."

"But now she has no corporeal form, my Lord. Even so, she is not completely dead, as she was a wizard like yourself, only she had disenchanted herself by pursuing the desire of the being a mere mortal. The pursuit for greed, youth and beauty."

"Do not chide me, Angus! I do not come here to ponder over my morality, nor to ponder my mortality. This tower is using up my strength. I must destroy it."

"You must, my Lord. This instance."

"_Terminus dispersus_!"

Wait! Eugene was about to yell, but there came a loud rumble that drowned even the most desperate scream within an earshot. He was feeling the sensations of being knocked around and falling at the same time, slowly, heavily down. In the blackest of all black thoughts, he realised that the tower was falling apart and he was right in middle of it! If he wasn't in the closet, he would have been crushed by the stones and beams the first moment the pulverising happened. Instead now, he was in the darkness of the closet, falling and tumbling like an imprisoned ragdoll in the middle of raging hurricane of stones and beams. After seconds that felt like an eternity, Eugene felt the finality of contact with the ground. And so did other things that had been pulled by gravity in the process. Something awfully large crushed upon the closet, breaking it in half and a large piece of building material now torn asunder, as big as mountain boulder was upon Eugene's left leg. Also there were other things sticking into his arms and torso, bits and pieces of smaller things.

The pain was unspeakable.

There was a generous clump of vegetation near the edge of the hidden enclave that allowed Maximus to obscure themselves from sight, and yet allowing him the perfect view of the coming and going within the tower's compound. Seeing the tower crumble, Maximus was wise to stay within the protection of the greenery. But when it was all over, he went out to inspect the rubble. The destruction of the tower had created large heap of stones and beams. Maximus heard a groan coming out from a boulder-crushed closet. He pounced to the closet and saw Eugene trapped inside, barely alive.

"Max, get help," that was all he was able to say before Eugene fell into cold blackness.

XOXOXOXOX

"I hope that he didn't break a femur on his own, because that is kinda like my job,"Hookhand said. He and Attila pulled the boulder from Eugene's leg left leg and inspected the injury.

"Hey Killer!" Hookhand yelled at a small man standing on the sideline.

"Yeah?"

"You're an expert in sewing up injuries. You may wanna take a look at this one."

Killer approached the scene.

"The man don't look too good. But you might need to staunch the bleeding. He might just die out here. And we have to go through all the sad funeral business, and we'll be late for the celebration."

"Hey, I'm still here," Eugene said, as he came through once they got him bundled up in rags.

"Kid, you're alive!"

"No more talk about the funeral business, alright?"

"Let's get you home, kid," Vladamir said, as he took Eugene into his large arms and carried him like a baby. Eugene couldn't care less about looking good now.

"Home, huh?" He said before letting darkness took him once again.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! I watched this crazy film TWO months ago and I can't still get it out of my head. So, even though I have only 3 reviews from 2 readers (Thanks **An Unknown Foreign Beauty **and** Soccermustang**), I'm doing this as a therapy so I can move on with my life and start seeing other stuff!

Chapter 4

"Do I have to go outside?" Rapunzel asked her pet chameleon. Pascal stared at her with its beady eyes and gave a short chirping sound. The noise of congregating subjects was something that could not be ignored.

"It's not the same without him."

Another chirp came from Pascal.

"He's SO into parties ... celebration ... dancing!"

Pascal shook his head. Rapunzel grimaced.

"You can't just forget about the 'alone-on-an-island' part, can you?"

Pascal shook his head again.

"Al right. But I want him here nevertheless. Today. I'm here because he brought me."

"Rapunzel. The people are waiting. This celebration is for you," Queen Annalise said, standing at the door.

"Yes, mother."

"I know how you feel," the Queen said, touching Rapunzel's cheek.

"The things that the two of you had gone through are beyond my understanding, but the both of you are meant to be together."

"How do you know, mother? Because nothing is certain."

"I know, dear. Trust me."

The look in the Queen's eyes told Rapunzel that she didn't just say that to make her feel better. It was as if the Queen was reminiscing about a place and time far away but just as real as now.

"No matter how long, or how far. No matter what it takes. I believe that your destiny belongs to each other."

"Oh, mother," Rapunzel said and put her face on the Queen's shoulder. The queen hugged her in return.

"But for today, the people need to see their princess. They just want to know that their wait is finally over."

"Yes, mother."

So the celebration began. Rapunzel made her appearance on the balcony of the throne room. The mass of her subjects were already waiting down below. There was cheering and laughter. Streamers and balloons were released and trumpets blared. For a moment, Rapunzel got caught up in the sounds and sights of the whole spectacle. She had never seen such explosion of joy during the time of daylight and it was even more significant that it all happened because of her. But when she got down to the terrace and mingled with her subjects, all lovely folks of the kingdom, men, women and children, pets and people, her heart was tugged at its strings. Every time that she saw a face, she was hoping that it was Eugene's. Every time she saw a glimpse of broad shoulders and tall forms, she thought it was Eugene in the crowd. And there are people selling cupcakes and the kingdom's flags and flowers, all rekindling her memories of the day in the kingdom when she was with Eugene. Now, she could only imagine what he is doing at the moment. Where did he sleep? Who are people he meets? What are his plans? What will he do to make himself worthy of love and belonging?

The merry-making had been for a few hours and suddenly Rapunzel noticed a sudden change in the mood. There was a gasp from the people and the gasp turned into deadly silence. Then the crowd seemed to open to spot right in front of where she stood. At the end of the suddenly parted sea of people, Rapunzel yelled in joy.

"Vladamir! I thought you'll never -"

But when Rapunzel saw that Vladamir was not there to party, she instantly became quiet. There was no mistaking who was the limp form in Vladamir's large arms.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel gave a little despairing scream as she rushed toward Vladamir, but the giant of a man just held Eugene's seemingly sleeping form more firmly.

"He must see the doctor fast!"

"Of course, of course!" Rapunzel stammered, suddenly the reality of her not having her magical blond tresses hitting her hard.

"Mother!"

The Queen and the King, who got separated from their daughter in the kingdom dance, ran to the scene.

"Bring this man to the royal doctor!" The King barked. The celebration that had come to a standstill started again when an accordion was played. Some of the kingdom's folks rejuvenated their steps into a dance. Rapunzel was left in the debris of the Snuggly Duckling's thugs zooming through. She thought she just had a nightmare and horrifically realised that the nightmare was real. Queen Annalise saw the horror in her daughter's eyes and held her hand.

"My Lord, please helm the celebration for us," she said to her husband as she led her daughter by the hand to the royal sick bay.

Rapunzel watched helplessly as the Snuggly Duckling thug named Killer exchanged notes with Sir Asclepius about making a splint for a broken leg. Sir Asclepius learnt a trick on how to restore breath in a man's lungs. Meanwhile, Big Nose tried the hand-to-heart technique of restoring a man's heartbeat. All these were witnessed by Rapunzel in both trepidation and sickening dizziness as she was deathly worried about Eugene and the thought of close he had been to death for many times were driving her into madness. And the worst possible thing to happen to her was to lose her miraculous tresses when she was going to need them again and again. She used to be able to bring back the dead, and now all she could do was watch helplessly as these men fumble around with the most fragile and precious thing she ever had. She wished that Mother Gothel had taught her something useful instead of her doing stuff that were merely making her pass her time. Real healing skills.

"I'm going to be a doctor," Rapunzel said to the Queen.

"Sir Asclepius is doing his best, and so are Mr. Fitzherbert's ga-, er, friends,"

"What if one day all these will come upon me, alone? What if I'm the only one he had at that most crucial moment?"

Queen Annalise saw an opportunity in a moment of weakness. She was glad that Rapunzel was not going to have a relapse into depression. It was unbelievable how strong her daughter had turned out to be. Instead of pining for Mr. Fitzherbert, she was able to let him go even though it saddened her very much. Instead of weeping and whimpering in sadness in the wake of her beloved's coma she was able to form an ambition. Queen Annalise realised that her daughter is a true princess.

"It seems that Sir Asclepius is definitely going to be busy taking care of Mr. Fitzherbert and so is his wife the midwife Lady Morgena, who is now scouring the fields and forests for medicinal herbs. So I'll be your first tutor."

"You know how to heal people, without magic?"

"Healing in itself it always magic, my princess. Remember that the body always exists with the mind. While some people pay great care to the repairs of the human body, the same has to be done to the human mind."

"Does that mean that I have to ease the mind of the sick?"

"You're a quick learner. From the letter, I can gather bits and pieces of Mr. Fitzherbert. He is a sad person. He is brave, strong and constant, even though he had made mistakes, but always there for people he cares about. I can assume that in his past that he was there for everyone, but no one was there for him. And that broke his spirit turned him into a thief and made him lived so recklessly. You have to find that boy in him who is open to love and belonging, and convince him that there are people who love him, despite his weaknesses and imperfections."

"How can I do that? Can he hear me when he is in his deep sleep?"

"You will never know how the mind receives stimulations from the outside world. But it seems that we can lose nothing by trying."

"I don't know him that much to talk to him. He doesn't do back story, it seems."

"There must be something he told you, bits and pieces,"

"There's this book he used to read as a child."

"Maybe that book is the window to his soul."

"I'm going off to the library, mother!"

"I'll help you choose."

Again, Rapunzel sat in front of the huge shelf housing the collection of Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare's finest works. Rapunzel flipped through them. There were too many, as if the woman wrote one volume for every month of her life.

"There are so many to choose from. How do I know which one is that Eugene needs?" Rapunzel asked in a tone of being overwhelmed with choices. Having only read THREE books in eighteen years, she found Wilhemina's three hundred strong volumes an ominous threat during this desperate hour.

"Try this one – _The Tales of Flynn Rider: Flynn Rider and The Glass Prince."_

The Queen thrusted into Rapunzel's hand a volume with thickness of her thumb. Rapunzel had to trust her mother's choice. Mother knows best, she was led to believe by Gothel. This time, it might just be true.

"Thank you, mother."

"In the meantime, I will seek to bring Miss Wilhelmina to the castle. She might just be happy to meet her number one fan, who happened to rescue the kingdom's lost princess."

"Oh mother! I know Eugene will be thrilled to meet Miss Wilhelmina!"

"I'm sure he will. I'm sure," the Queen said enthusiastically, while her heart was harbouring sadness as thick as a thunderstorm cloud. Sir Asclepius had whispered to her that Eugene might not live through the night!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

One knew a vigil when one had stayed through one. The fact that the royal doctor did not actually go to sleep even though he kept saying every will be alright, but he wasn't exactly around doing anything, made a wait for the sick a vigil. Sir Asclepius was waiting for something to happen, after he had done everything he could. And so did his wife Lady Morgena who was more worried about the emotional and mental state of Queen Annalise and the princess. One knew a vigil when the lights never went out, and footsteps kept going on and on along the long corridor outside the sickbay. One knew a vigil was when there were no sounds but sighs and the general heaviness of tiredness was the only thing around.

Everyone knew a vigil except Rapunzel. She had never been through one. She watched Eugene's still face and touched his chest lightly. She felt a soft murmur of something in his ribcage and she was grateful. She coaxed a little song in her soul to believe that the little murmur would be stronger but there was no sign that Eugene would become better at the moment.

She opened the dog-eared page of _'Flynnegan Rider and The Glass Prince'_ and resumed her reading, her voice already hoarse.

"The Ice Queen laughed cruelly at the girl who brought a box of matches into the cold, crystalline castle. Her hands were cold and white, but she kept lighting the match, one after another. The boy with the heart of glass was as still as a stone. But the girl, crying in her heart, said to her childhood sweetheart,

"I will never stop fighting for you. I will light the matches till this icy castle thaw."

"Your matches will not last forever, foolish girl!" The Ice Queen said icily.

"Not if she has this magical lamp oil from Persia!" A confident voice boomed in the barrenness of the ice castle. It was the rogue Flynnegan Rider! The Ice Queen grimaced with the memory of the man's fiery kiss he once set on her lips. He almost died because of the coldness she injected into his lungs, but being the insufferable Casanova he is, Flynn Rider would never hesitate to suffer for love. And he had a lot of space for love in his heart. She was only one of the women he had loved.

"Flynnegan Rider, I regret the day I didn't kill you."

"My lady – just because things didn't work out between us that doesn't mean you can go around spreading coldness in people's hearts. But I'm willing to offer you a second chance."

"Hmmph!"

"Release the boy from your spell. You know a forced imprisonment of the heart will never work. Here, Hayley!" Flynn said as he threw an oil lamp into the little girl's hands.

"It'll burn a fire that will never die."

The girl set light to the lamp's wick and from it burned a fire that was heavy and brilliant, unlike the short-lived little fire of the matches.

"Come on, Bastion. Come on, don't let your heart be cold."

The girl, Hayley shared the heat of the lamp with her beloved Bastion.

"Ha ha ha!" The Queen let out a laugh that sent a shiver down Flynn's spine.

"You don't understand, Mr. Rider. I've turned him into something even stronger than I. He doesn't have a heart of ice. He has a heart of glass!"

"What?" Flynn couldn't believe his ears. The Ice Queen has stepped up her game and Flynn was sure he thought his Persian oil lamp trick was his best yet.

"What?" Rapunzel gasped as she was unable to continue with the story. There were only a few pages left but the outcome was not encouraging. If Eugene was listening to this sordid story full of defeats and coldness, the results will not be good.

"I'm afraid that is not something I will recommend reading that to a loved one in a –" a voice suddenly rang in the pitifully quiet sickbay.

"And you seem to be needing a rest yourself, your majesty."

Rapunzel looked up and saw a tall woman and slim woman, standing next to her. She had hazel eyes and a long face with strong chin, a beautifully sculpted nose and chiselled cheekbones. When she unlaced the cap covering her head, she exposed soft, straight dark brown hair that was properly secured into a tight bun. She wore a plain black dress which was demure and polite, unlike the seductiveness of Mother Gothel's deep red flowing garb.

"That story was filled with so much pain and suffering, I was ashamed that I had ever written it. The same goes with my other books. All about loneliness and rejections disguised by daring-do's and constant travelling. Stories about a hero unable to belong. And the people he met, are just impossible people to deal with!"

"You must be –"

"Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare. Please to meet you, majesty."

"You look very familiar."

"People say that all the time. They say they have seen me somewhere but they never seem to get the source of their memory right. I could have been on some 'wanted' flyers of someone, but then I' m a woman, living the simple and lonely life of a dime novel writer - so I can't possibly be that someone on the 'wanted' flyers."

"My intended, Eugene, he loves your books very much. My mother thought he would like it very much if you could read your own selections."

"His name is Eugene?" The woman asked suddenly, unable to disguise her violent surprise.

"Yes. Eugene Fitzherbert."

"Herbert?" Miss Wilhelmina whispered as if thinking of some faraway place in her memory. Her hand suddenly slowly crept up to Eugene's face and stopped short before it reached there. Miss Wilhemina's fingers gingerly reached the blanket covering Eugene's body and she lowered the blanket she could see his collarbone. For the first time, Rapunzel could see a heart-shaped brown mark on Eugene's collarbone. With a sigh, Miss Wilhelmina tucked the blanket neatly around Eugene.

There was an almost inaudible gasp coming out from the woman's lips before she started crying soundlessly. Rapunzel had no idea what was going on. After a few minutes, the woman was able to compose herself and she took out a book from her satchel. It was a handwritten volume, probably a work in progress.

"_Flynnegan Rider: The Baroness Westenra Returns_."

And she began reading.

From a dark corner, Queen Annalise was watching. From one mother's point of view to another, she understood everything that had transpired. There was a heavy thug in her heart. This is going to be a long night, she sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

6 reviewers! Yay! **Spring-Heel-Jacqueline** pointed out something very important – thanks. And the **Unknown Foreign Beauty** is very supportive. Still writing for therapy and things keep unfolding.

**Chapter 6**

The moment the Queen set her eyes on the Miss Wilhelmina, she suspected that the resemblance between the woman and her daughter's rescuer was more than a coincidence. The Queen knew that nothing is coincidental in the events of her daughter's return, and the events were not about to stop unfolding just yet. Queen Annalise followed the tall woman's activities in the sickbay closely and discovered the conclusion she wanted to make, with heavy sadness in her heart.

Miss Wilhelmina was reading a story straight from her in-progress writing journal, her voice undulating in soft, calm utterances, a marked different from Rapunzel's excited and emotive reading as the girl herself was enthralled with the story that she was reading to Eugene. Miss Wilhelmina read her own story aloud with a kind of acceptance and generosity that only the series' writer could do. But there was something more, she was reading it, as if she was reading it to one's own beloved child.

'"Why are you doing this Baroness?"

The Baronness Westenra was unlocking the shackles from Flynn's wrists. The guards were all unconscious after inhaling the poisonous fumes she had let out from the ampoules attached to her copper bracelets.

"Go save your princess!"

"How about you, Baroness?"

"Me?"

"I thought you were going to rip out my heart and give yourself immortal life."

"Do not flatter yourself, Rider! I already have your heart. You will come back to me again and again and beg me to give it back to you."

With a swish of a black cape, the Baroness Westenra disappeared from sight. Flynnegan was alone in the dungeon, but free to pursue his next challenge – rescuing the princess from the Demon Haedes.'

There was a sharp inhaling sound coming from Eugene's nose. And his eyes flickered open.

"Rapunzel?"

"Eugene?"

"Sir Asclepius!" Rapunzel yelled to the healer as Eugene fought to maintain consciousness. His flickered open and close in series of a painful struggle. The old man came running to his bedside, and checked his pulse.

"Gothel –" Flynn said before he seemed lose in hi struggle to stay awake and fell back into unconsciousness.

"He's going to make it, Your Highness. He has passed the most difficult time."

"Oh!" Both Rapunzel and Miss Wilhelmina gasped. Overwhelmed, Miss Wilhelmina stood from her chair and started leaving, with her satchel and all. She was at the sickbay's door when the Queen Annalise stopped her.

"Miss Wilhelmina. Please do not leave. Eugene needs you."

"Why would he need me?" Miss Wilhelmina gave a stiff laugh.

"I know your secret. I saw the way you looked at him. It is no accident that you write the tales of Flynnegan Rider and Eugene taking the name as his own. You know that the stories are meant for him, as the lanterns were meant for my daughter."

There was resignation in Wilhelmina's expression. Her straight long eyebrows furrowed.

"What will he think of me? Will he ever forgive me?"

"I do not know. But he understands how it is to make mistakes. "

"And all his mistakes are because of what I did to him."

"All I am asking is you to see through the days at his bedside and read the tales to him. And you will receive the full backing of the palace in publishing your tales, even publishing it internationally."

"That is an offer only a fool would decline. But as you may judge for yourself, I am a fool. As my son is already on the mend, I'm leaving. I being here will only break his spirit. He will be painfully placed. Now that he is a consort to princess, it is just perfect timing that the mother who abandoned him returns. He will not take this cheerfully."

"Will you not reveal yourself to your own son? I know how it feels to lose a child."

"I did not lose my Eugene. I sent him away."

"But surely you can rectify that by telling him the truth. If anything, he deserves the truth. And he adores you, unknowingly."

"He adores the stories that so mirror his loss and estrangement. How could I not write the best tales of loss and estrangement when I am the cause of the very malady?"

"I will respect you decision. You have my gratitude for helping my daughter taking care of your son."

"But you know that I love him very much. And I will always be with him in time of need. If there comes a time when he needs that knowledge, please use your discretion to tell him that," Miss Wilhelmina said to Queen Annalise as she made her way out of the castle, after two days and three nights tending to his forgotten son.

It took two weeks before Eugene could finally talk coherently and regained his animated self.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene said, finally gaining lucidity.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel gasped.

"Have I ever told you that I really loved your magical blond hair? I would not be in this mess if you could just heal me one last time."

"That is no fault of mine," Rapunzel said happily knowing that her Eugene is back, his snarkiness being the characteristic of his sharp pulled at Eugene's shoulder and gave him a deep kiss as he moaned because of the soreness all over his body.

"You were speaking to me all the time. But there was another voice, along with yours. Who is it?"

"It was Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare."

"The one who wrote _The Tales of Flynnegan Rider_? Your parents got her for me? Unbelievable!"

"The one and only. She left once she knew you are going to be alright. She said she was already behind schedule of her three hundred and twelfth book when she was at your bedside for two weeks."

"I've been out for two weeks?"

"Yes."

"Rapunzel, there is something that you need to understand. Gothel is not completely dead. And she is not alone. I must to speak to the king."

"I will order the castle guards to be more vigilant."

King Basilius was already at Eugene's bedside to see how his daughter's rescuer is doing and to hear Intel of his unfortunate adventure which was so short-lived.

"These people are practitioner of sorcery. Other than Gothel, there were two. There was one who built the tower, which by the way, has crumbled to the ground. Knives and swords do not cut them. Remember how your daughter was stolen from her crib?How do you suppose Gothel did that with the guards around? How could an old woman, climbed all the way up to the royal sleeping quarters and steal the princess undetected?"

"Other than that, what do you suggest we do, Mr. Fitzherbert?"

"I will ride out with a team to investigate the matter. We, I cannot sit here waiting for something to happen."

"But you're barely well. I don't think you can walk just yet, Mr. Fitzherbert."

"Right..." Eugene sighed suddenly realising that something was wrong his once ever reliable parts.

Days at the sickbay were spent with reading the Tales of Flynnegan Rider. Eugene was definitely amused with the many volumes. He read only a handful, not more than ten, very old and dog-eared copies, when he was in the orphanage. And Rapunzel was ever the attentive learner of medicine. But Eugene's mind was certainly filled with plans to get on and out of the castle once again. He must heal properly so he could trail the wizard connected to Gothel and the tower. He did not want to live in the pretext that everything will be fine while he knew that a lot of people have a tonne of unfinished business.

"Eugene, I have something for you," Rapunzel said one fine day when Eugene had started limping around the castle with a cane.

"What is it?"

"Miss Marlowe-Shakespeare left you her journal. She said that it is a gift."

Rapunzel held out a leather-bound book to Eugene.

"What's in it?" Eugene asked nonchalantly, lifting an eyebrow as he took the book.

"Old legends, old-wives tales, myths of the kingdom – sorry, I read it."

"I know you would," Eugene smiled and opened it.

"There was something very interesting about the world of rogue wizards which I found connected to your finding about Mm-" Rapunzel stammered at the coming word.

"Gothel?"

"You know, how she was able to take me away from my parents, even though it was supposed to be impossible,"

"I wish I don't have to burden you with this kind of knowledge. But you have to know so your kingdom can take the necessary precautions."

"And according to Miss Wilhelmina's research, there is a whole world of rogue wizards out there and their dark crafts."

Rapunzel's face began to twist. It hurt Eugene to see the beautiful princess so upset.

"But why would they want to do anything with me, with us? I don't have my powers anymore. It is gone!"

"That is why you don't have to worry so much. Let me take care of it. I just want you to be careful, okay? Gothel could be on her way somewhere far from here and her cohort of rogue wizards as well. We could only be worrying for something that might never happen. So, let me do my Intel and everything will be okay after that."

Eugene held Rapunzel closely, while his eyes strayed to the heading of a hand-written page that said, _Of Wizards Gone Astray._

'Wizards in their pure forms are humans who have surrendered their human desires to attain knowledge and powers that are more superior to that ordinary humans can gain. In return for this powers and knowledge they must serve for the good of humankind. Wizards become healers, advisers of kings, master agriculturists, teachers of good knowledge and trades, scribes of history, poets and writers who heal the human soul infested with maladies.

However, knowledge and power do have their bane, which is greed and vanity. Once a wizard was unable to let go of human desires for love, riches, beauty and youth, she or he will lose most of their knowledge and power, and retain only shadows of them. She or he is then given the curse of never able to cross to the other side in the event of their first death. They are punished by existing in the form of wraiths – thinking and feeling but without a human form. So they suffer in anger and vengeance while they are unable to do anything about them.'

...they suffer in anger and vengeance...

The sentence gave a chill through Eugene that even the warmth of Rapunzel's skin could not abate.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was a cloudy afternoon in the kingdom. Day fifteen after the Tower crumbled. Day seventeen after the Gothel incident. The garden was solitary except for Eugene. He hadn't seen Rapunzel all day. She was in some important tutoring session in the castle, and he had the freedom of lounging around all day if he chose to. But Eugene wanted to test himself. He wanted to know if he could do the tasks he used to do. There was a large tree with strong branches standing in front of him.

"Okay, Rider, show me what you've got," Eugene breathed in and let go off his cane. He put one leg up on a foothold, a gnarled bark of the tree and heaved himself up to a hanging branch. He felt a sharp pain shot through his thigh up to his back and he breathed out in a gasp. He waited to see if the pain would disappear if he just be still. And fortunately, the pain passed and he made his next move. He moved up and up as the pain dulled every time he made a new move, his heart soared every time he reached a new height.

At last, he reached the topmost branch that was able to bear his weight and saw the view of the garden from above.

"Ah, the view..." he sighed. Such views from above had changed his life. The view from the top of the castle, the view from the tower, the view as he hovered over his own body. He wondered what kind of view he will see next.

Suddenly, he saw a flash of languid form amongst the greenery. A lady in lavender and a shock of dark brown hair. It was Rapunzel. How he missed her! Eugene retraced his steps back towards the ground when he saw two men in heavy cape appeared from the surrounding bushes and shrubberies. In the space of seconds, the two stood right in the middle of Rapunzel's path. Eugene halted in mid action to evaluate the situation. One of the men was tall and wiry and the other was short and stocky. He knew them! The memory was as fresh as if it was branded in his mind. And at the very moment, the tall, wiry one was brandishing a long scythe to Rapunzel's face.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene shouted. As fast as his legs could manage, he shimmied down. No, he lurched down. And he almost dropped to the earth, but he kept himself on his feet and ran towards the two attackers.

"Leave her alone, you lunatics!" Eugene shouted. Like in slow motion, the one holding the scythe brought the scythe up and around as he turned to face Eugene's yelling voice. In one fluid movement, Eugene grabbed the scythe from the man's hand and flung it far from the scene.

"Guards!" Eugene yelled.

"Eugene! Please!" Rapunzel yelled, her eyes wide with horror.

The two cowered at such display of violence from the man they should know as the one who brought their princess home.

"Did they hurt you, Princess?"

"Hurt me? No, Eugene, they were just telling me how they wish the weather would be better. They have so much work to do in the garden."

The two men, carers of the royal garden, according to Rapunzel, bowed hurriedly and made themselves scarce.

"They're what?"

"They're gardeners. You scared them to death, Eugene," Rapunzel said in complete disbelieve of what had just happened.

"But – the scythe –"

"As I said, they're gardeners. The scythe is a standard equipment around gardens, it seems."

"But they – they look familiar –" Eugene almost made a run for the two, who had disappeared as quickly as they had materialised into the scene.

"Eugene, stop!" Rapunzel begged him. Eugene relented, knowing he couldn't track them now. If he could, he knew they posed no threat. But if they have disappeared, then his instinct had been precise. Either way, it was already a lost cause. Eugene faced Rapunzel in exasperation. Then, suddenly, like an outburst of light after a dark curtain had been pulled aside, Rapunzel made a small jump and pulled his collar down to her seeking mouth.

"Uh!" Eugene responded quite unreadily. But then, seeing that Rapunzel was not letting him go any sooner, he responded in both melancholy and gratitude. He was so close to losing her for the second time and the third, and he didn't know how many more of these cycles of test he could take. Their kiss was deep and their breaths one as they savour the moments as if they were their last. Finally, after both had carved the past tortured days on the stones of their memory, they let go, their eyes misty with tears.

"I miss so much, Eugene!"

"I thought they were going to hurt you, Princess."

"I know you're worried about me, but you mustn't kill yourself with that worry. You could have fallen off that tree and hurt yourself, again."

"Your majesty! I heard you call for the guards."

Two guards appeared. Rapunzel dismissed them but they insisted that they escort the pair back to the castle as twilight was already approaching. Vigilance was the order of the season. They had to obey, and take every alarm, even false ones with the seriousness of a war cry. Eugene, even though deprived from private moments with his beloved, was greatly pleased. He wondered what was she doing alone in the vast garden.

Well, at least he knew that his legs are completely healed.

He would have tomorrow to plan his next course of action with the king.

Rapunzel walked the corridors to Eugene's sleeping quarters. At every interval of ten meters was a guard placed. After smiling innocently at the one guarding at Eugene's door, Rapunzel knocked on the door. It was promptly answered. Eugene was still in his sleeping attire, a white cotton shirt unbuttoned, Miss Wilhelmina's journal in his hands. And was that reading glasses on his perfectly formed nose? Eugene let Rapunzel into his sleeping quarters. He put the book on the bed and patted a spot next to him for her to sit on.

"You wear glasses?"

"Only at night –" Eugene took it off immediately, but it was too late.

" My vision is perfect during the day and in daylight. I do not need it during the course of my adventures."

"Except in dark towers and caves," Rapunzel chided.

"Ahah," Eugene snorted.

"I thought you'd never visit," he continued.

"I've been waiting so I could process all the knowledge I've had and thus it brought me here to this moment."

"What's on your mind, Princess?"

"I've been seeing a lot of people in two weeks,"

"And?"

"None of them have the same effect as you have on me when I see you."

"And when I saw them prod and poke you in the sick bay, I thought, do they feel the same as I do when I look at you?"

"I doubt it, but thank you, love."

"That word. Love. Do you say it like it meant in those books?"

Rapunzel looked into Eugene's eyes. The man gave a sigh and his eyes became soft. His lips gave a smile so languid it sent a flutter in her stomach. It was that feeling again. And the heaviness of the heart. Heavy and sorrowful, but with a tinge of gladness.

"You make me happy, but why do I feel sad when I look at you?"

"I don't know, Princess. Maybe you're worried about the future. Because you're so happy now that you don't want that snatched away from you."

"Yes. You put that into the exact words! How did you know?"

"Because I feel as you do."

Eugene pulled Rapunzel's head to his chest. She could hear his beating heart, so loud and constant. There were moments when that sound was stolen away from her. She shuddered just thinking about it. The warmth of his skin comforts her being and for the first time, she could smell him in his purest form, just with her senses and the stimulations coming from his essence. There was no fear, no tears that would deceive her memory from remembering how he smelled. He smelled of the wind from her tower window in summer. Her hand began to travel along the whole breadth of his shoulders.

"I want to see you – whole," she said. It was a command and a request.

"I thought you'd never ask." The response was a complete and utter submission.

Outside, a dark and violent gale was forming, its howling sound making ones who listened to it think of darkness and the evil hides in its many folds.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks to new reviewer **forgetmenotjimmy**. I'll write and write no matter what, until the story reaches its deserved ending.

Rapunzel remembered the first time her feet touched the grass on the ground outside the tower. There was wonder and there was fear accompanying her descent into the world. But this time, in her descent into his shimmering light, there was no fear, there was no doubt, but only wonder. Mother Gothel who had supplied her mind with tales of deception and cruelty of the people outside the tower was long gone, and Rapunzel only had her senses now, pure and unadultered.

Rapunzel ran her fingers on the wide plane of Eugene's chest and then cupped his straight as an arrow shoulders with both her hands. She held out one finger and traced it down the divide in the middle of his chest. Eugene knew what she was doing – she was exploring him with the awareness that were both scientific and instinctive. She did not ask him to reciprocate and he was keeping inside a chain-reaction that was making his insides tremble.

"Your body – it's like it is carved out of something," Rapunzel said.

"Is that a good thing?" Eugene asked, baffled in his bursting, barely containable excitement.

"You're beautiful," Rapunzel marvelled. Eugene reddened at the assessment. He wanted so much to prove to Rapunzel that she is all that and more as well, more than he could ever be, not with his words but with his touch. Eugene put his hand to her now bare neck and ran his finger down her back, feeling the criss-crossing of a ribbon of her nightgown.

"No, Eugene."

Eugene pulled his hand back, very careful not to break the trust his beloved had for him.

"Sorry, I just thought that –"

"I just need to get over the fact that you do really exist. Sometimes, I think you're not real."

"Hah!" Eugene let out a gasp as she touched something that made him jumped with pleasure. Rapunzel wanted play Marco Polo tonight but Eugene would not just sit there writhing like a fool. He decided that he would make Rapunzel's big tour into the male, Flynn slash Eugene physique more informative.

"As you can see, I'm marked by all sorts of dents and dings, signifying the milestones of my life's story," Eugene said as he took Rapunzel's hand and made her feel the thin line on his left chest.

"What do you mea-"

"You feel that?"

Rapunze felt a serrated embossment on his chest, right below his brown areola and she took a closer look.

"What is this?" She asked, touching the serrated skin.

"That is a scar."

"A scar," she repeated, savouring the coarseness of the word, the same way she said the word 'lantern' when Flynn Rider said it in the tower and Rapunzel heard it for the first time.

"Right. Wait, I forgot that you've never gotten yourself a cut before, let alone a huge bloody gash across important parts of your body, and neither did your captor slash kidnapper Mother Gothel bothered to tell you the truth about pointy objects that cut through people's skin."

Rapunzel pursed her lips and shook her head.

"A scar is a mark on your skin that is left after a wound is healed. Some wounds are small and leave no scars. Some wounds are so deep that having a scar is inevitable."

"What caused this?"

"Brace yourself for back stories. A bully called me a bas -, illegitimate child of some prick, and I had just to stand up against him."

"And?"

"I didn't know he got a knife."

"What happened to him?"

"I broke his nose,"

"Wow."

"Wait for it – after I got knifed."

"Then, I ran away from my tower – the orphanage, never to return – I was fifteen."

"It must have been awful."

"Oh well. Something like that just got to happen. I just got to do it."

"Is that a scar too?" Rapunzel touched Eugene's areola and he gritted his teeth.

"Augh!

"What?"

"No, that is not a scar. I think you've got it too. Approach with caution!"

"Why?"

"Because it is making me wanting to kiss you and do what you're doing to me to you. Does that make sense? If that happens I'm gonna spoil the whole scientific-educational tour thing."

"Sorry," Rapunzel wheezed, feeling her areola tightened.

"Next, my first heist," Eugene moved Rapunzel's hand to his left side.

"Bodyguards of a corrupt nobleman. A sword. I lost a lot of blood. Didn't come around for two days."

"Did you get what you were after?"

"I did. He didn't need all that money. The orphanage was on the verge of being closed. I held on to the loot like a burr to a trouser's leg. Passed out in some cave and woke up again, as weak as new born monkey, but alive to say the least."

"Aren't you afraid of dying, Eugene? Mother Gothel was so afraid of death that she would do anything, so desperate to keep me with her. How about you?"

"I'm afraid of the pain of dying," Eugene reflected and continued.

"It's the kind of pain that never knew when it's going to stop. And when it reached the point where you can't stand it anymore, something else take over you. You don't feel anything anymore even though you know you are hurting like crazy. But I'm not afraid of dying."

"Why?"

"Dying is the only thing that makes living worthwhile. And living includes being with you. I mean, if being with you means that I have to die, I guess it is worth dying for you."

Rapunzel looked deep into Eugene's eyes, while her hand absent-mindedly moved to his solar plexus, the region below his chest down to his navel. She touched a thin long line. The long line sent a jolt through her.

"I thought –"

"Uhuh, I never wanted you to see that," Eugene said with regret.

"You're not supposed to have the scar from Gothel's knife!" Rapunzel whispered hoarsely.

"I was supposed to fix you."

"You did fix me. Aside from the scar, I feel peachy."

"Let me see your hand."

"Uh-" Eugene hesitated. Rapunzel pulled his hand and inspected it. There was a scar on his hand from the cut made by the stone in the briny cave under the dam.

"I don't understand. You're not supposed to have any scars!" There were tears in Rapunzel's eyes.

"Something must have happened. My magic was corrupted after I healed you. Oh, Eugene, what is going on?"

"Argh! It burns!" Eugene suddenly writhed in agony.

"Eugene! No-" Rapunzel shrieked in despair. She was ready to jump and call for help.

"Rapunzel, I was just joking. Do you think that one day I'll just fall apart at the seams just because I have these scars," Eugene changed his twisted face into his 'Flynn' face.

"How could you –" Rapunzel gasped, eyes in tears.

"Please do not fret over me again, Princess. You haven't lost me yet."

Eugene pulled Rapunzel to his chest. Rapunzel balled her fist and started beating his chest in rebellion.

"Ouch! Ouch! Actually I do enjoy a little bit of masochism in everything that I do. It comes in the package of living dangerously."

After a minute or two, Rapunzel calmed herself down.

"I think the scars are beautiful."

" A man is not a man without his scars," Eugene said nonchalantly, suddenly very pleased that he had been through abuse all his life. Rapunzel slid her face down to Eugene's torso and began kissing the-Gothel's-knife-scar.

"Oh mama!" Eugene gasped. Down and down she went, to the end of the scar above his navel and she buried her nose in the cusp of his centre.

"You're driving me crazy," Eugene said bend over the princess' head. She looked up and there they were again. He held her neck and looked into her eyes. Something moved in the semi darkness of the room that distracted Eugene from his princess. It was a wisp of the wind, like dust gathering, little by little forming a wraith-like greyness that hung in front of the fireplace.

He had only seen the face once, with a disastrous consequence, but he knew that face any where he would see it again - the woman Gothel in the form of harmless and wispy white dust and dark ones. Her hair streaming coarsely behind her, her eyes black holes and her mouth decrepit looking gum and skin, opening and closing in wordlessness.

_Rider!_

A sound came out barely audible but loud enough for him to hear it.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel asked.

"What? Yes. Uh."

"Did you say something?"

"Probably my own heavy breathing." Right before his very eyes, Eugene saw the apparition disappeared as quickly it had appeared. He would do anything not to let Rapunzel see the abomination of all sights known to human.

"I heard your old name – Rider."

"It's just your imagination, Princess."

"Maybe I'm just tired."

"Sleep here. I'll watch over you."

"Watch over me? Why?"

"I mean – that's just the thing that I do for you, you know."

"Okay."

"Get some sleep."

Rapunzel drifted away on his lap as Eugene's heartbeat calmed to its normal beating. The apparition had left and the howling wind had stopped. It was almost the apparition didn't happen at all. But he knew it happened. Rapunzel heard it even though she didn't know what it was. Eugene picked the journal of Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare and continued reading. He had to learn everything he could before he could devise a plan of action.


	9. Chapter 9

Many thanks to my new readers **The139Blossom**, **Romance and Musicals**, **InkSpellWeaver**. And to old ones, **An Unknown Foreign Beauty** (when are you updating?) Sorry that I forgot to change the rating (**NickyPickles**), I totally missed it. I changed the synopsis, the category, but forgot the rating. But there won't be any of this pseudo-smut until the unconsummated wedding night (augh!) and the real wedding night (yay!) I'm doing this to get 'Tangled' out of my mind, so here goes!

Chapter 9

''The Many Deaths of a Dark Wizard'

As a punishment for dark wizards, they suffer many deaths. I always think that the soul belongs to its Creator, but a dark wizard's many deaths are forms of test to both him or her and the accomplice who is trying to bring the wizard back to its flesh and blood form.

I, like the rest of humanity, will never be able to recount the events of life after death to the living world. Thus, I will never be able to tell whether the reincarnations of a dark wizard comprise purely of the person's very own soul or a manipulation by demons that always wait for human folly that always desires to dabble in evil sorcery.

But, I can tell you this, son, purely from the point of view of a person lacking in the perception and wisdom of the philosophical and metaphysical of death and the –'

"Oh mama, please!" Eugene sighed, wishing just that Miss Wilhelmina would just quit talking philosophy and religion and start making some lucid points in her enormous tome. The woman might be writing for his son, and that the tome was supposed to be read in a relaxed and recreational manner, but Eugene was reading it for a life-and-death reason.

"experience of the human soul after its time in the physical world, never take lightly the appearance of a wraith, because it is most likely that,"

Eugene's eyes darted back to the sentence and said it out loud,

"Never take lightly the appearance of a wraith, because it is most likely that an accomplice of the seemingly dead dark wizard is nearby, performing incantations in an attempt to give strength to the wisp-like wraith to gain its worldly essence. In darkness, the wraith, even that is the most frail of existence, is at its strongest. It may have a voice by with to call the person who so had angered her."

"An accomplice!" Eugene hissed under his breath. Discomfort stirring in his chest, he softly slid Rapunzel's head, still on his torso, to the pillow on the bed. He knew it, he swore. He was always an expert at recognising people's forms and gaits and he knew he was never wrong. When he saw the two men in a confrontational stance in front of Rapunzel in the garden, he knew he had seen them before. The sentence woke him into his 'Flynn' mode. Eugene jumped out of bed and began putting on his gear and boots. He wanted to put a bolster into Rapunzel's arms but something slimy fell out of her hands.

"Augh!" Eugene let out a muffled yell. The slimy something happened to have eyes, now staring at him with it's an expression of utter dissatisfaction.

"Pascal? You've been watching, you voyeur!"

Whirr-click-whirr. The amphibian responded in something that means, _like you were doing anything_.

"Okay, right at this moment, there are two evil henchmen on the castle grounds, probably people who know magic tricks, real magic tricks, so I'm not going to be offended by a green frog," Eugene said as he buckled his belt.

"You just take care of her, alright?" Eugene said and went out of the room.

"Make sure no one enters this room before the sun is up. The Princess is sleeping in there," Eugene commanded the guards.

"And place guards on the balcony below and above this room."

Eugene strode out to the exit that led to the gardens and spoke to the guards guarding the exits.

"I need the two of you to follow me."

Eugene walked into the gardens with the guards. He noticed how his bedroom was so conveniently placed facing the vastness of the forest-like garden.

"What are we looking for, sir?"

"Two men, one is very tall and elderly-looking, and another is short , stocky and younger."

"That sounds like Angus and Faustilian, the gardeners."

"Angus?" Eugene said, as he recognised the familiarity of the name.

"Have they worked here long?"

"No, they came here less than a month ago."

Of course, Eugene said inside his head.

"Exactly sixteen days ago?"

"Yes, sir."

"Be vigilant, men. Those two are not gardeners."

The three walked deeper and deeper into the forest-like part of the garden. Where people walked, there would a naturally formed path shaped by treads of the foot. Eugene followed that until he came to a clearing, now far from the castle. The clearing was more like a camp. There was a small makeshift sleeping place made from linen tarps, two stump of wood blocks that acted as chairs, some dirty plates and cutlery and a place where a fire had been built. A horse, as black as night, was tied to the tree. Eugene knew he had found the nest of the two men. There was a heavy chest under a tree that had become the clearing's centre and Eugene opened it. His heart constricted when he saw a deep red cape in its bottom. Eugene had found them, alright. And right now, he had with him two armed guardians of the castle, and his own readiness. Eugene hid himself behind a thick bush with the two guards and waited.

Soon, footfalls were heard and an elderly man came into the clearing. He had with him a lighted stick and he set the mound of woods in front of him into a flame.

"Is that our man, sir?"

"Yes."

"Then, we have him in our hands," the two men jumped out of their hiding place and approached the dry stick of an old man. Totally unaware of the old man's potential for violence, they approached him without caution.

"Men, it's too far past midnight. Care to join an old man for a drink?" The old man said first.

"I'm afraid you have to come with us to the castle," one of the guards said.

"To the castle? Well, that is just the thing I want to do. It's too cold out here," the old man said with a glint in his eyes, only visible to Eugene's trained perception. Eugene appeared from behind the foliage, ready to confront his enemy.

"Where is Angus?" Eugene asked him.

"Angus? He is busy," the old man said with a dark smile.

"Take him to the dungeons, men."

"Oh no, you won't," the old man and held out his skeleton-like arms.

Galius impromptus!" He said and a bolt of lightning emerged from his palm and hit the three of them like a dragon's fiery breath. The two guards were thrown back like leaves. Eugene had braced himself for impact but he was untouched. This sudden invisibility put a spring in his step. The old man with this gaunt face stared at him.

"Interesting," he said. And then, creepily, he smiled. Eugene was about to jump on him but a force hit him at the back of his head, rendering him into a heap at the man's feet. The blackness was so instant that he had no awareness left to assess the ensuing exchange between his assailant and the one with the magical force.

"Your magic did not work on him, master."

"He has the last bit of magic from the girl's healing tears," the old man formulated an answer to this new and surprising finding.

"But stick and stones will break his bones."

"That is absolutely correct, Angus."

"Shall we kill him?"

"Not yet. We must use him to get to the princess. We need to know if she has any last bit of magic in her. We need her blood to resurrect Gothel."

"Why are you doing this, master?"

"There is honour among thiev -, wizards. She was the only one who ever appreciated my architectural ability. I have been shunned among wizards as not being very good with my spells until she transferred her powers to me when she gave up being a source of good to humanity."

"You're bound to her."

"She has sworn to keep me alive if I died my first death. She met hers first, so I must resurrect her so one day she could help me have mine."

"But look at the lovers; don't they remind you of yourself and Gothel?"

"Ah, the two. No, they are too simple. They have no conditions, no agreement except their love for each other they base their bond upon. I and Gothel, had much to lose. She her vanity and youth. Me, my spells and my architectarium. We might lose everything," the Architect, Faustilius said.

"You asked too many questions, Angus. I had always asked myself why I keep you as my assistant."

"I am your servant in deeds, master. But I am not your servant in thoughts. "

"Now be a servant indeed and carry this man to my lair."

Short even though he was, but in strength, Angus was superior. He heaved Eugene's lithe form onto the back of the horse and without further ado, the two men headed out into the darkness of the road beyond sight.


	10. Chapter 10

Eeek! 14 reviews for the almost 14 days of writing this crazy thing. Thanks, guys! Some Flynn sexiness for those who like it. I'll do Punzy's sexiness later on.

Chapter 10

Her heart was beating so loud when she struggled against her chains and the cloth gagging her mouth. The beating of her heart sounded like an insistent pounding on a solid wooden door. Not a few steps from her, so close yet so out of reach, Eugene was trembling in a kind of pain that cannot be described in words. She felt like she was moving underwater and her desire to scream and yell was overpowered by a force so strong and evil. Somehow the gag came loose and she managed to call out his name.

"Eugene!"

Everything then faded to grey and the world of the castle took over. The dark interior of the tower turned into the white royal guest bedroom. The insistence to call out his Eugene's name came out as a hoarse and lame utterance. Eugene was not there, doubled over on the floor. But the pounding sound remained. It was not her heart however. It was the door.

"I'm coming, mother!"

As she said that, Rapunzel was still torn between the nightmare world of the tower in the dreadful past and her real life in the castle at the moment. The knocking stopped and there was a brief silence before the door clicked open with the help of a spare key by a castle staff. Bursting into the room was her mother, the Queen, in full regalia. She ran towards her daughter with arms outstretched and then held her flower tightly.

"Oh, Rapunzel. You're alright!"

"Good morning, mother. Why wouldn't I be alright?" Rapunzel gave one of her awkward laughter.

Then, the guards, six of them burst into the room and checked every corner. They reported to King Basilius who was standing near the fireplace. They said there was nothing out of place in the room. The windows were securely locked from the inside. There was no sign of entry, even from the fireplace. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Last night, Mr. Fitzherbert and two guards were pursuing a man in the garden's deep and they were attacked by some force of sorcery –"

"Where is Eugene?" Rapunzel blurted in the middle of her mother's retelling. Queen Annalise paused, trying the best in her mind to arrange the words so they would not sound so terrible.

"Mr. Fitzherbert is missing," she said, grimacing as she realised that they came out as bad as they sounded anyway.

"And so is the man they were pursuing."

At this, Rapunzel's eyes widened, her lips parted and closed, at loss for words.

"No, no, no...," she said quietly. She looked around the room, as if in disbelief. She couldn't process the fact that it was just a few hours ago that she fell asleep in his arms, on his strong chest, her lullaby his constant heartbeat. The memory of the scintillating moments in his bed replayed in her mind as if she was desperate to will those moments to happen again.

She remembered how close he was to her. She was touching him in places where she never ever dreamt of touching. She had laid eyes on his magnificent body in the half light of the river bank after their near –drowning incident as he dried his clothes. He had nonchalantly walked around shirtless, exposed from chest to navel and near loin, his body white like carved alabaster, carrying firewood and stoking a fire so she would not have to take off her clothes. She saw his finely muscled arms working as he coaxed a fire and blew the flame into life. Trickles of sweat had appeared from his forehead and ran down his temple and neck. And more of them appeared from his chest and trickled down to his finely sectioned core. She watched him in avidness that was stemmed by her never seeing a man without his clothes on his upper body. And she had chanced on such a beautifully created man. She didn't know if he noticed it at that time, but he acted nonchalantly enough. But she knew that he knows about her interest when he said that he had 'superhuman good looks' later that night.

And last night, he was close to her beyond her wildest dreams since that day on the river bank, sitting on a broken tree. He gave his heart and soul to her last night. His generosity allowed her to be immersed in his naked skin and his goodness allowed her to remain pure. She got him so close and so wanting, but she was not ready to taste him whole yet. She wanted to keep the best of Eugene for herself later. And now, later seemed very difficult to reach.

Rapunzel breathed deeply and muster all the strength she had to say something that will bring Eugene back to her.

"Order a search party to find him."

"Err..." said her father, the King in a kind of hesitation. Rapunzel saw her mother squeezed his hand, as if to stop him from saying anything further. But King Basilius cleared his throat anyway.

"Actually, we're expecting a visit from the royalty of the neighbouring kingdom, whose members want to share our joy for your return."

"Oh no."

Rapunzel closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"We've been declining their intention to visit the first moment they sent news so you can concentrate on tending to Mr. Fitzherbert. But we can't keep declining their goodwill any longer."

Rapunzel knew how important those kind of visits are to her parents. She learnt that from the lessons in politics. And the search for a commoner, who happened to be a former thief, whose notoriety could even have extended to the neighbouring kingdoms, no matter if he had brought the lost princess back to her people, seemed so middlingly unimportant in the current situation. This kind of business, if handled incorrectly could even ignite an animosity between neighbouring powers, which no right-minded ruler of any form of establishment want to do during his rule.

"But we can simplify the pomp and ceremony of welcoming the royalty of Penumbra from the whole day to just two hours. Then, I'll assign the guards for the search of Mr. Fitzherbert," King Basilius said.

Two hours! Rapunzel's face twisted at the mention of the length of time. She had known that lives had been changed, history erased, breath stopped, strength died in the space of two seconds and she didn't have two hours. King Basilius saw that desperation and truth in Rapunzel's eyes.

"One hour!" The king revised his schedule. In an instant, his daughter's looked better. They barely had a chance to say anything when a blare of trumpets quelled the already disturbed morning.

"Your majesty, the Penumbran royalty have arrived at the city gates," the head of courtly procedures announced to the king.

"Proceed as planned, Sir Parcival," King Basilius commanded. Queen Annalise turned to Rapunzel.

"You must get changed."

"Of course, mother."

"Do you need me or a maid to help you?"

"No, mother. Just give me half an hour. I need to look my best."

"You take all the time you want. I'll leave you here to calm your mind," Queen Annalise said. Rapunzel waited on her feet until every single person who had burst into her and Eugene's love nest to get out. Then, holding back the urge to cry and throw herself on the bed, she looked around the room for clues. She believed that she was really good at solving puzzles.

"Where can you go, Eugene? Where can they take you to?" She said out, half-shouting, half-whispering, fully tearing up inside. Suddenly, she saw Pascal sitting on the journal given by the writer Miss Wilhelmina. It was opened to a page that Eugene had last read. Rapunzel put Pascal on her shoulder and brought the open page to her chest.

"We need the help from an expert, Pascal. We must find Miss Marlowe-Shakespeare. She knows everything that Eugene knows and even more."

Pascal made a sound. _Click-click. Whirr-whirr_. And made a pointing sign with his tail to the bedroom door. _What about the royalty of Penumbra?_

"Penumbra schmumbra," Rapunzel said as she began ransacking the closet in the royal guest bedroom to search for a suitable gear for travelling.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for the generous reviews. I myself cannot get over the Flynn sexiness. But all in good time.**

Chapter 11

Queen Annalise always believed that she is an expert judge of character who is able to read a person's heart just by looking at the aforementioned person's face. And she also believed that she has very discerning taste when it's about men, especially for her daughter. Queen Annalise also believed that her husband is very good-looking, but she would never hesitate to acknowledge that she has seen someone of superior aesthetic qualities, even just in her heart, if she saw another man with a face and physique who is better looking than her husband. She had done that three weeks ago, without envy but only pride, and presently, she is doing the assessment again when she welcomed the royal cohort from kingdom of Penumbra.

The King of Penumbra, King Drake Valiant was a man just a few years older than her husband, who had with him his son and wife, the Crown Prince Tristan and Queen Isobel. Her appraisal confirmed that her husband is absolutely a more sturdy make of a man compared to King Drake V. However she thought that Queen Isobel is an exquisite looking woman who paid a lot of attention to her self-presentation. Envious but realistic, Queen Annalise knew that Isobel's beauty surpassed her own modest sweetness. There was something pompously arch about the woman, but she had to be given credit for keeping up with the pressure of looking good.

Queen Annalise's attention now focused on the face of the young prince seated across the table, next to an empty seat meant for Rapunzel. The prince had sandy yellow hair, and piercing cold blue eyes. The hair was from his mother who had grey eyes and the blue eyes were from his father, who had icy white platinum hair. The family of ice and sand, she formed the words in her head. Tristan had strong square jaw, and a deep cleft in his chin, as if his square chin had been cut in half. Some people might find it attractive, but Queen Annalise found it distracting. She preferred a modest goatee over a sharp chin. And Queen Annalise was greatly cheered to see that Eugene Fitzherbert is a good three inches taller than Prince Tristan.

But now once they begin to speak, good looks took second importance.

"We heard a rumour that Princess Rapunzel was rescued by a commoner. Is it true that he is a wanted thief?" Queen Isobel asked. Queen Annalise and King Basilius answered instantly together but Queen Annalise took over the process.

"Yes, he is. A commoner and a wanted thief." Queen Annalise smiled, a quality accompanied with admiration toward a person currently not present.

"Your majesties are so forgiving. I even heard that he stole the Princess' crown," Prince Tristan chipped in. King Drake V snorted at the exchange and pointed at the dish in front of him.

"Basil, the soup looks good. Is that hazelnut soup?"

"No!" Both King Basilius and Queen Annalise said in unison.

"That's just chicken soup with turnips."

"Well, it still looks delicious," said King Drake V as he spooned a good dollop into his mouth.

"Dear, isn't it rude?"

"What is?"

"We must wait for the princess," Queen Isobel said to the husband.

"No, no. I'm starving myself. Let's tuck in," King Basilius said and signalled the attendants to serve the royal guests.

"Annalise, where is Rapunzel?"

"She is coming. I've asked the chamberlain to ask if she is ready."

"I'd be very pleased to meet this commoner-thief who had so gallantly brought Princess Rapunzel home, your majesty. I'd like to say thank you to him," Prince Tristan said, completely missing a very important fact. There was another snort coming from King Drake V. His son ignored him completely.

"Why would thanked him for, Tristan?" King Basilius asked the young royalty, who was at almost the same age with .

Prince Tristan's answer was halted by a chamberlain rushing to king's side. The chamberlain tried his best to lower his voice, but after the running he did on flight after flight of stairs, caused a few rough words to escape the circle of secrecy.

Princess. Rapunzel. Gone.

"What?"

"That is outrageous," said Queen Isobel.

"Isobel, please keep your trap shut," King Drake V said.

"Does this have anything to do with the thief?" Prince Tristan asked, appearing very alarmed.

"I'm sorry, but do you serve alcohol for lunch?" King Drake V asked one of the attendants, who quickly went off to fetch the aforementioned dish item.

"Yes, Tristan! This has everything to do with the thief," King Basilius' voice boomed in the dining hall. "Drake, may I?"

"Go ahead," King Drake V said, now a tall glass in his hand.

"The thief who was stabbed by a mad woman who kidnapped my daughter when he came to rescue her. Then, wait for it – forfeit all chance of his life being saved when he freed the Princess from her captor. And now, he is out there in an attempt to investigate the threats my daughter is facing. My daughter had went off to track him and his captor."

"I would do that for the Princess of Corona in a heartbeat, without being a thief," Prince Tristan said.

"The thing is – when he did all that – stabbed and dying – he didn't know she was a princess. He thought she was some ignorant valley girl who's never been out to town, barefooted and uncultured. Now, that is princely, I'll tell you."

King Basilius was not doing the talking. It was King Drake V, with a drink in his hand.

"Does this mean that any chance of Tristan here to have your daughter's hand in marriage is forfeit as well?" King Drake asked his friend, King Basilius.

"I'm sorry Drake. It's nothing personal, but my daughter's heart is set on the wanted thief."

"Thank you for being straight forward, Basil. Now we can go ahead with the merry making. But I think you have a search party to deploy."

"Thank you, Drake. If you will excuse me."

King Basilius left the table and strode out of the royal dining hall.

"Well, Isobel, Tristan, let's enjoy the wonderful spread that we have prepared for our Penumbran guests," Queen Annalise said, smiling sweetly to the flabbergasted Isobel and Tristan. She saw and appraised Prince Tristan and found that the boy never could be even a shadow compared to the manly and worldly Eugene Fitzherbert. She completely understood the reason Rapunzel is bound to Mr. Fitzherbert. The man is a real dreamboat, to put it simply! The colour brown in all of Eugene's features, just reminded Queen Annalise of a box of finely crafted chocolate confectionary.

XOX

Maximus the horse ran like the wind carrying the petite Rapunzel to her destination – a block of apartments in the busy part of the kingdom. Rapunzel had much to learn about the habits of writers. She had formed an opinion that a writer would love to be left alone somewhere, in absolute peace and quiet in order to write. Especially for a writer who had written three hundred strong books. She wouldn't appreciate the distraction if she wanted to finish writing according schedule. Even though she was a voracious reader, Rapunzel was not the writing type. Her creative acts were to shaping things up, like pictures through paintings, vases and pots through pottery, things and what nots through crafts.

When the door opened, Rapunzel was immediately greeted by the sight of books all over the floor, on the shelves and a large table strewn with ever ready writing equipments.

"What is your business here?" A woman poked her head out in the space between wall and chained door. But the moment she recognised Rapunzel's face hidden under a hooded mantle, she unchained it.

"Your majesty, come in."

Rapunzel entered the book-infested space. She had seen many books in the castle library, but in Miss Wilhelmina's living space, the books gained character with the way the way stacked and topped upon each other.

"For what pleasure do I owe your visit, Princess?"

"I'm so sorry to bother you writing your latest Flynnegan Rider book, and I know I have no right to ask for your help but you're the only person in the world who can help me."

"You want my help?"

"My in -, Eugene Fitzherbert has gone missing."

Rapunzel saw Miss Wilhelmina stiffled a laugh, the kind one does when one sees one's children behaving naughtily but thinks that the behaviour is adorable. Rapunzel has seen this during her experience mingling amongst the servants and their children.

"He has a runaway heart," Miss Wilhelmina said dreamily.

"No. I mean, I know he does, but this time he's kidnapped. By a sorcerer, or a practitioner of dark magic. The guards took a blast from the sorcerer, and Eugene managed to evade the hit. But then, they did not know what happened to him. He and the sorcerer had disappeared."

"What?" Miss Wilhlemina's face broke into despair. She had to sit on a long chair, which had books on it.

"My little Eugene-" She breathed.

Rapunzel seemed very baffled by this animated display of emotion, but she took it that Miss Wilhelmina had had her heart stolen by the charmer and the heartbreaker, which is not a surprise at all. Unlike her, Miss Wilhelmina would have experience with many men and would have discerning taste as to one who is more charming than the other. Rapunzel's first unwelcoming reaction to Eugene, smolder and all, was because of her naivete. But now, not any longer. She had seen men and she wanted only Eugene Fitzherbert.

"He was reading your journal when he was last seen," Rapunzel said and handed Miss Wilhelmina the book. Wilhelmina examined the page and returned the book to Rapunzel.

"I do hope he has read it in full. You must read everything in it, so you will be prepared for the coming obstacles, Your Highness."

"What is coming our way, Miss Wilhelmina?"

"Sorcery as its darkest, vengeance at its most cruel," Miss Wilhelmina's voice suddenly soared with professional ambition. She slipped off her fluffy bunny slippers and put on a strong riding boots. She put on a mantle to ward off the weather outside from her bones and took her satchel from her writing table.

"Where are you going? Why are you going if you're going?"

"To find your true love and because I've made a promise to your mother," Miss Wilhelmina announced and took long strides to the door, back straight and head up; the posture that strangely reminded Rapunzel of someone very dear to her heart.


	12. Chapter 12

Dear kind reviewers (**Romance and Musical, forgetmenotjimmy, the139Blossom, An Unknown Foreign Beauty, InkSpellWeaver, NikkyPickles, Spring-Heel-Jacqueline, Soccermustang**),

You must be thinking that I'm making this up as I go along and one day I'll just give up because I lack reviews. Don't fret. Because I've got this thing plotted out to the last detail and I've got about 20 more chapters to give a 'Tangled' sequel justice. The climax will be the one that will make you sleepless for days, the one that will break all ratings. It'll be like M++++... . So, why am I telling you stuff that you don't need to know? Because I'm begging you to stick with me. So, in between the times when my bosses are shouting at me, they will see me smiling like a fool, not knowing that I'm way out of the damn place I call work.

**Chapter 12**

Eugene came to his senses just to find that his face was covered with a black sack, his hands tied behind his back and his legs tied together at the ankles. When he thought of rolling himself off the open carriage, he found that his whole body had been tied to the carriage. His captors had taken all the necessary precautions to make him one with the carriage. He cleared his mind of his current predicament and tried thinking good thoughts. Unfortunately, he had very few memories that he would love to go back to. His childhood? Sorry, he had no childhood. His teen hood? Man, what a downer. His adulthood, full of bad choices when he thought that the worst was over. And now, after the kind love and acceptance he had been given? Still no use. He knew he had unfinished business with people who had unfinished of businesses, and he had to finish what he started. He tried thinking about the sublimely made Princess Rapunzel. He remembered her sweet spring air smell and he sighed deeply. He could picture her small but shapely sweetness pushing behind her tight dress and that should be driving him mad. But he was sad instead.

What if they were never meant to be together? What if all these trials are just to show that he must be separated far away from the woman who possesses his heart? He didn't want to think about those seeking, eager small red lips not cleaving over his from time to time. The future, even fantastically speaking seemed so fraught with uncertainty. Eugene decided that he is not going to think about neither the past nor the future. So, what else did he have in his memory other than his sordid past and anticipation of the future?

Well, he had The _Tales of Flynnegan Rider_, and that cheered him enough in order for him not to give up hope. What would Flynn Rider do when he is being completely tied to a moving carriage driven by his nemesis? Putting himself in Flynnegan's shoes, he arranged his thoughts. He will wait until the first opportunity for escape shows itself. And believe me, he said, as long as he is alive, opportunity will show itself. And if he's extra lucky, even in death, though very unlikely, opportunity could show itself. That's the best thing about hope. One never knows when one's luck going to run out. Hmm, he wondered, why on earth did the writer never gave Flynn Rider the gift of immortality? The series would go on and on forever. Someone else could have written the story for her after Miss Marlowe-Shakespeare's time ended. But then, where's the fun in following the adventures of an immortal? The very thing that makes life precious is death itself.

Eugene realised that he had been thinking too far and hard when the carriage finally stopped and he was rolled off the carriage and ended up on the ground like a sack of potato. It was clear that his captors did not care about his well-being at all. They didn't care if he is broken and cut, as long as he is breathing. He knows that his existence had been reduced to being a bait to get something they wanted. He was then rolled up in a blanket and then pulled into an interior of a building. They finally stopped pulling him and propped him on a wall before the peeled away the blanket covering his whole body. They put his wrists in shackles before they untied him, his legs as well. Finally, when the process of binding him to his new prison ended, the sack covering his face was taken off.

"Where am I?" He asked the two familiar men, the gardeners slash sorcerers.

"You're in the lair," answered the old sorcerer, his face more gaunt than the last time he saw him. The old man's time was running out, thus, explaining his desperation in getting over whatever he is doing.

"That's very useful information. What are you going to do with me?"

"You will lure Rapunzel to this place and we shall see how it goes from there."

"She's not coming," Eugene snorted.

"She is coming."

"You don't know that."

"Seeing the way you two are bound to each other, I know she will be following all leads to follow you."

Eugene snorted again. He was very confident that the old man's assumption is based on coincidence and unfounded prediction. Even he himself did not know where he is. How could Rapunzel know? And the guards or the king? Surely the sorcerer would have protection against these people so they won't be barging in the lair.

"What are you going to do?"

"The details are very complicated. I won't be entertaining any more of your questions."

"Fine!" Eugene said and started observing the two in action.

The younger man, the sorcerer's assistant, Angus, carried the chest he saw in the royal garden into the lair. The sorcerer opened it and took out a familiar black mantle, being very careful not to drop something contained within the mantle. A wisp of something escaped the folds of the mantle. Gothel's dust! Eugene gasped. As the wisp of dust was still hanging in mid air, the sorcerer uttered an incantation.

_Dust to dust, ashes to ashes;_

_ Time to put fate into reverse,_

_ You are a wraith though not at first,_

_ Vengeance exacted will end your curse_.

The thin wisp of dust began to take shape and Eugene simmered and boiled at the abominable sight – the wrinkled and hollowed visage of the woman Gothel was hovering in the air.

"If it's vengeance that you want, just take me. What can you get by hurting Rapunzel?" Eugene yelled to the sorcerer, Faustilius.

"You? What are you but only a thief? Who got rescued by the girl's tears? A middling nuisance at most. But definitely useful," Faustilius sneered making Eugene very upset.

"Oh, don't play that put-me-down card! That is so below the belt!" Eugene yelled. Behind his back, his hands were twisting, testing the bonds of the metal shackles. They were strong. He needed a key, or something like a key.

"Hey, the incantation says that vengeance is the thing. So, your woman Gothel is probably very pissed at me, for cutting Rapunzel's hair. So it is really me that you want. Not her. And for your information - Rapunzel. Lost. Her. Hair. Got that?"

"Oh, don't worry, if we found out that her blood is useless, we'll start cutting you."

"That is so unfair," Eugene gushed out.

"Now, we'll wait."

xox

"We're here," Miss Wilhelmina said when they approached a cavern-like structure in a forest clearing.

"How do you know?"

"Look, Your Highness, you asked for my help, and this is the help I'm giving you," Wilhelmina said, desperation in her voice.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, we're going in together," Wilhelmina assured her and held Rapunzel's hand in hers.

"I'm scared," Rapunzel confessed.

"Me too," Wilhelimina said, "but I will not be able to live in peace until I see this one through."

"Why are you being so kind?"

"Oh, this is killing me. Please, promise me to keep this for me, the secret I harboured for so long."

"Is Eugene Fitzherbert your son?"

Wilhelmina broke into a sob. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably.

"How did you know?"

"You followed me here. You, who has no connection to this whole mess."

"I've made mistakes that regret will never undo. I must be there for him now that I've finally been reunited with him."

"And you are beautiful, just like him."

That sentence drove Wilhelmina into another sobbing fit. But after a few minutes, Wilhelmina was able to gain her composure.

"Let's go in."

The two women walked toward the cavern and stepped into its mouth. As they were walking, Wilhelmina stopped in mid-stride. She could not walk any further, as if there was an invisible wall in front of her. The same did not happen to Rapunzel. Rapunzel stepped back and asked Wilhelmina who looked as if the world had ended.

"What is wrong?"

"They put a spell on this place!" Wilhelmina whispered, and she started pounding on the invisible wall. There was no sound, but Wilhelmina was hitting something solid with her fist.

"But I can go in. Why can't you go in?" Rapunzel asked.

"I never thought the decision I made will come this – I, "Wilhelmina could not continue.

"You are a wizard!" Rapunzel gasped. She remembered the line in the journal – 'Wizards become healers, advisers of kings, master agriculturists, teachers of good knowledge and trades, scribes of history, poets and writers who heal the human soul infested with maladies'. But the fact didn't cheer Rapunzel because being a wizard in Corona's world is more of a curse than a gift. Because Wilhelmina was a wizard, she could not enter the lair of another wizard who had taken the necessary precaution.

"You must go on without me, Your Highness," Wilhelmina pleaded.

"Don't worry. I will get Eugene out of this place." Rapunzel assured her.

"Wait," Wilhelmina said and took something out from her satchel. It was a small key.

"You must give this to Eugene. No matter what."

"The spell won't detect this?"

"It's not magical. It's just a key for shackles of standard-manufacture in this kingdom. Before writing, I did my research whole-heartedly."

"I will. Thank you,"Rapunzel said, and braved herself to venture into the cavern-like structure.


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you all for your support. New reviewer AIOFanNCRM, welcome! It's not so much confidence but pure desperation to get 'Tangled' out of my head. So, here we go again.

**Chapter 13**

Time passed slowly as he waited in anxiety. The sorcerer Faustilius' confidence was the only thing that was making him worry. For now, all that he knew, he'll be chained here forever and the time window for the resurrection of the wraith Gothel would end soon and that is the end of this harrowing story. Rapunzel would be in mourning for years for his body that was never found. One day, she would meet a prince, a real one, with a really beautiful and well-crafted name like Tristan, or Arthur, or Phillipe with matching good looks and not so interesting personality. He would heal her broken heart. They would marry and have beautiful children. One day, years and years later, by some stroke of fate, one of her children would be on a grand adventure and find his skeleton in this God-forsaken cavern. There was no way they would recognise his remains. He had no sword, no kingdom emblem on him. While he was infamous in life, he became nameless in death but they buried him anyway, out of pity, being the civil and generous children of Queen Rapunzel.

That, is a beautiful dream. That dream, is the one he would live and die through many times. Eugene closed his eyes to replay that dream he has for Rapunzel.

When he opened his eyes, his nightmare appeared right before him. As if it was a scene of a very bad dream, he saw Rapunzel's face appear from the darkness outside to the light inside flamed by a large fire set in the middle of the cave. She was running so fast, that even Faustilius and his assistant Angus were not able to stop her from lunging at him. He had no time to signal her anything, like, get the hell away from this place.

In an instant, she was on him, kissing his lips.

"Eugene!"

"Rapunzel, no, you're not supposed to be here!"

Eugene pushed her away in anger and regret but she was insistent in getting herself a piece of him. He felt her searching hand behind his buttocks. What a vixen! Then, he felt something tiny, hard and cold pressed into the palm of his hand.

"Enough!" Faustilius shouted as Angus pulled Rapunzel roughly from Eugene. Eugene winced at the way her tiny frame was flung and bounced about by the lunatic. He began working with the key, but it was difficult as his wrists so tightly bound together.

"Angus, bring me the knife!" Faustilius commanded. The assistant darted to the chest where he kept Gothel's souvenirs.

"Wait! If I give you what you want, will you let him go?" Rapunzel asked.

"I don't think you're in a position to discuss any kind of bargain here, Your Highness," Faustilus responded, Gothel's knife was already in his hand. Angus moved and held Rapunzel's right hand in a vice-like grip. In a second, there was a slash in Rapunzel's palm, and blood pooled in it like water from a fountain. Rapunzel gasped. Faustilius held Rapunzel's bleeding hand over Gothel's ashes in her clothes and the blood dripped on it. He recited an incantation.

_Blood of your vengeance I offer_

_ Your soul will no longer suffer_

_This sacrifice shall quell your anger_

_Come back from the hereafter_.

"Nothing is happening, my Lord!" Angus said as the blood just dripped and soaked into the cloth with no effect. Faustilius was held rapt by the resurrection process that he didn't notice that Eugene was already out of his shackles. He slid the key into the holes of the shackles imprisoning his shins and he was free.

"Maybe she just needs more blood!" Faustilius said and without warning lunged to Rapunzel's side and pressed the danger into her unyielding flesh. The princess stepped back in disorientation when she felt the knife that entered her ribs was pulled out smoothly.

"No!" Eugene yelled in anguish. The shackles that were holding his legs were now in his hands, a kind of lethal weapon. He lashed at the sorcerer Faustilius and in one swift motion looped the chains around the sorcerer's neck. He pulled like an angry oxen, losing all control of right and wrong at the sight of his fallen beloved. Eugene pulled like he never pulled in his life. The sorcerer relented to Death as his body grew weaker and weaker and slowly slid to the ground. Eugene let out an anguished grunt as he crunch harder until he heard the neck cartilage broke. He saw the dead sorcerer's accomplice made his getaway into the deeper parts of the cavern with Gothel's ashes and clothes drenched in Rapunzel's blood. Eugene would, in a heartbeat bound for the escaping lunatic and end everything tonight, once and for all. But he knew, his beloved needed him now, more than she ever needed him. As Eugene let go off the chains, Faustilius turned into dried flesh and then into ashes.

Good grief, they just can't stop doing that! Eugene swore under his breath. He bounded toward Rapunzel who was lying flat on the ground. The princess was conscious but she was in terrible pain.

"I'm right here, Princess. Hold on," Eugene said softly as his hands started working. An expert in tending to wounds, he unwound the scarf on Rapunzel's delicate neck and wound the thick fabric around her fragile torso. The wound was bleeding profusely, but he did what he could to stop the bleeding. There was a sound of sprinting footsteps coming into the cave and Eugene took an alert stance. But it was only Wilhelmina, his favourite author!

"The spell protecting the cave is gone! Faustilius is dead!" She said joyously. The expression of crazy euphoria left her face once she saw his son's heart bleeding on the ground.

"Eugene, it hurts!" Rapunzel moaned, her face twisting. That tore apart Eugene's heart. He had experienced many grievous wounds and they all hurt like he was skinned alive, every time it happened. This is the first time in her life that Rapunzel had ever experience a form of a cut, and it wasn't a paper cut. He could imagine how it hurt for her.

"Just breathe, Princess. Think of something good. Think of me," Eugene blurted. Miss Wilhelmina shook her head in exasperation as she took out a small bottle from her satchel.

"This will dull the pain. Drink it," Miss Wilhelmina put the bottle on Rapunzel's lips. Rapunzel swallowed the concoction painfully.

"Is that alcohol, because I need it myself," Eugene asked the writer. Wilhelmina rolled her eyes.

"It's morphine."

"I need that too."

"Do you feel better, honey?"

"I feel drowsy," Rapunzel said.

"So you won't feel hurt too much. It has a soporific effect," Wilhelmina explained.

"What do you think, ma'am?" Eugene looked into Wilhelmina's eyes. Wilhelmina checked Rapunzel's mouth and found she had no blood at the back of her tongue.

"Her lungs are alright, but she can just bleed out to – timing is of the essence."

"Hey, Eugene," Rapunzel said, her eyes fluttering open and close.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Now, we're even."

Eugene gasped. He shook his head and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Have I ever told you that love don't get even? Someone always loves the other person more. And that person is gotta be me. Come on, let's get you out of here," Eugene said as he gathered her in his arms and carried her out of the cavern like she was a tired child who had fallen down during one of her games in the field. Miss Marlowe-Shakespeare followed closely behind.

"I sent a lantern into the sky half an hour ago. They should be here by now," she said looking at the dark sky.

"Who's 'they'?"

Suddenly, their hearings were assailed by the sound of hundred hooves and shouting men. Dust came up from the ground yards away.

"The cavalry," Miss Wilhelmina said.

"The one last to arrive in any occasion," Eugene sighed.

King Basilius alighted from his horse and rushed to her daughter.

"Rapunzel!"

"Father," the princess said, barely audible. King Basilius took Rapunzel from Eugene's arms and put her in a carriage with Sir Asclepius and his wife Lady Morgena.

"They'll take care of you."

The thundering cavalry left Eugene standing there as swiftly as they had arrived. Eugene was rooted to the spot like a lonesome fool, only Miss Wilhelmina at his side. He watched the carriage carrying Rapunzel moved on, leaving him. He was too stunned to say, to do anything. All his thoughts were going through his mind all at once. Then, he did one thing. He turned away from the road back to the castle. Wilhemina's eyes widen.

"WHERE THE HELL YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, MR. FITZHERBERT?" A voice boomed in the dark of night. It made Eugene froze cold in his track.

"GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE AT ONCE!"

Eugene turned to face the King who was standing at the helm of the carriage.

"IN THE CAR, NOW!"

"Yes, your majesty." Eugene whined and leapt into the carriage.

"IF YOU EVER LEAVE THE CASTLE AGAIN, I SWEAR TO GOD –" The King stopped there when he saw Eugene was already holding Rapunzel in his lap, stroking her hair and holding her hand.

"You're the strongest person I've ever known in my life," Eugene said softly.

"I feel so tired, Eugene," Rapunzel breathed thinly.

"Hang on there, love. I will wait for you."

"Eugene – I – you were -"

"Rapunzel, please!"

Rapunzel's head lolled to the left side as she let out a tired sigh. Eugene buried his face into the crook of her neck with his tears, just salty non-magical tears, flowing from his eyes, down to her cold neck and chest.

"Don't you dare leave me, Princess!"


	14. Chapter 14

I get a certain nagging feeling that nobody likes to see Rapunzel gets hurt, but it is OKAY with Eugene. Why? Maybe because we feel that Eugene can HANDLE it. He's the MAN. He's that guy who can take anything for his woman. But this story has to go on. Just bear with me, okay? This is all part of the PLAN.

**Chapter 14**

A heavy figure slipped in and out of the random darkness casted by trees in the moonlit night. He ran fast, like he was running for his life. But even as he ran the fastest, he never let go the bundle of clothes and the dagger he was holding. His master had died. That was the end of one story and the start of another. It was a start of being on the run for Angus. He hadn't been a model citizen before but this time he is wanted by the kingdom's intelligence. He finally stopped running and started walking when he arrived at a landowner's stable on the outskirt of the kingdom. He settled his tired legs on the hay-strewn floor. He looked at the red and black clothes in his hands. The magic didn't work. It had been all for nothing. He threw the clothes to the corner of the stable, but he kept the blade used to cut and stab the Princess in his hand. Angus fell into a fitful sleep.

Little that Angus knew during his accursed sleep, the bundle of clothes started moving. It was like it is being filled out by something, little by little. At first, there was the core, of shapely waist and hips. The clothes were just filled by billowing wind. Then, the chest part got filled out. Next, the arms and legs, flailing like white branches. Finally, the movement of the clothes seemed to stop for a few moments of stillness. And then, quite suddenly, the clothes jumped up all on its own, a head and face emerging. Now the fabric was fully filled with the body of a beautiful woman who has enormously large curly dark hair. She had black eyes, as black as ink, and her skin as white as cold mountain stones.

"Ahh!" The woman said.

"I'm alive!" She breathed in the air blissfully, and began looking around. She saw the short and stocky man huddled in the corner of the stable.

"Who is this?" She seemed not to be able to remember anything but the final moments before her first death. Ah, the indignity, she spat angrily. She walked to the huddled figure and swiped the dagger from his hand. Her dagger. Her one and only true best friend. The man sleeping gave a jump when he felt the blade snatched from his hand.

"Who are you?" He asked, fearful that he had been discovered as an intruder in a private property.

"I am Gothel," the woman answered, savouring the two syllables that were her own name. There was a sound of trickling blood on that name.

"You've come back from the dead. Faustilius' plan worked?" Angus gushed in wonder. He had been right for rescuing the clothes and ashes. He didn't know what he was in for, but the whole experience was an education to him.

"Did Faustilius do this?" An ancient memory came back to Gothel's memory.

"Yes, but he is no more," Angus answered quietly.

"Oh, that's the end of that," The woman Gothel said as if the name Faustilius meant very little to her.

"My lady, you're a powerful sorceress. I want to be your apprentice," Angus bowed to her.

"An apprentice? We'll see about that," she answered, a little bit hesitant.

" But answer this, whose blood did he use to bring me back?"

"The Princess' blood."

"What?" Gothel screamed angrily and stamped her foot on the ground. Angus was shocked to see that the stable shook.

"Fools!" She admonished like a madwoman. Angus was terrified by this sudden display of temper but he is studying, committing everything to his memory.

"Did my wraith not show you who is the one that I wanted to exact my vengeance upon?" Suddenly things in the stable began to move when her anger became out of control. It seemed that the resurrection had brought back the old powers that were previously possessed by Gothel and more. Angus, though lacking in the extreme cold-heartedness that it needed to be a dark wizard and lacking the good looks to be accepted by women and society, or so he thought, got his pleasures from thinking. He began to tread and ply the information he collected from his experience to form his opinion about the world of sorcery, before he one day will be inducted into it. According to Angus' opinion, Gothel seemed to gain power she once lost and also the one possessed by the wizard who was responsible for her resurrection, Faustilius. Does this mean that she is now an Architect too? Angus asked. Only time will tell. Angus wanted to know what is in the sorceress' mind.

"But you're alive now. Are you not grateful, m' lady?"

"Grateful? Why would I be grateful?" Gothel asked in a shrill voice,

"You can be a good sorcerer now. Turn things around."

"What?" It seemed to Angus that the very idea, even though not impossible, was a total abomination to Gothel. She had not even a speck of goodness in her heart.

"Forget your vengeance and start anew somewhere else. Do good things."

A fire burned in Gothel's eyes. She seemed to gain a new face at that instant.

"What do you want?" Angus asked further.

"If I succeeded in my hunt for the blood of the one who I seek vengeance from, I will be invincible. If I get his life's essence, his seeds, I will be eternally youthful as well as invincible," Gothel announced a pledge she made for herself. Angus winced at the thought of the conflict that would out of this. It was going to be a heartbreaker and a killer of a confrontation. Hearts were going to be torn apart and lives will be destroyed. All hope will plunge into darkness. Angus managed to find courage to say this sentence.

"What abomination had you become."

"I am evil," the woman hissed. Angus cowered at the word.

"Oh Devil's Consort, what do you want?"

"I want everything from the man who separated me from my life and my youth. Breath, life, blood, essence and everything. I'm going to make him pay for the life I led disturbing no one yet he had taken away from me. He is selfish and he will pay for his selfishness. He will regret the moment he ever stepped into that tower!"

"And what is it that you forfeit if you fail?"

"I will burn in Hell for all Eternity. That is going to be my final death."


	15. Chapter 15

I read one movie review that says if the writer had ended 'Tangled' where Flynn Rider died in the tower, the film would become a masterpiece and a legend. I do not know what to think because I do not have the courage to think about it until now. So, what do you think? Will we ever be able to accept Eugene's death in' Tangled' in an alternative reality? What if she returned to the castle alone? Will 'Tangled' become legendary? Even thinking about it gives me shivers.

**Chapter 15**

All his life, he always thought that he has made choices that will make him not owe anyone. Things that really matter, he means, like his life or promises made. Even after falling in love, he thought he would be able to continue not owing anyone his life or some promise he made. But somehow along the away, in the shortest length of time, things started to change. As he waited for her at her bedside, his heart is filled with guilt. Let him be the one being hurt, but never Rapunzel. And Rapunzel lying there, eyes closed and breathing shallow, seemed so wrong. It would have been easier for EVERYONE if he was the one lying or dying there. Another jab in the torso, that is fine with him. He would just black out and wait for the whole cycle to take place again. If he died, Rapunzel would mourn for him, but she'll live. If anything happened to Rapunzel, the whole world would suck. He kept replaying the scene in the cave, thinking of a moment where he could turn back time, find his weaknesses that could be prevented to save her. He found it – the time he took to unlock the shackles. He was too slow. One second earlier and he would have been able to come between Rapunzel and the lunatic Faustilius. And all this could have been prevented.

"Fitzherbert, you look like hell."

It was the King. Eugene was instantly on his feet, his head down. He couldn't look at his beloved's father in the eyes.

"When was the last time you've eaten, or sleep?"

"I'm fine, your majesty."

"Take a walk outside, get some air, and some food."

"But-"

"That's an order."

"Right."

Eugene took Rapunzel's bandaged hand and kissed it. He went out of the Princess' room.

The long corridor was milling with important people waiting to see Rapunzel. Dignitaries with gifts and potions, royal relatives with consoling words. But they were screened with the utmost strictness. Most of them would be going home disappointed. How her people loved her! Eugene gushed. In another reality, there won't be anyone giving a speck of damn if he was lying there, except that old man Sir Asclepius with his professional ambition and Rapunzel. The world would be just fine without him. One less thief. There were people in the corridor who were staring at him. And the look they gave him was not one of admiration. It was more like_, it this the sorry low life she sacrificed herself for?_

There were finger foods placed at spots along the corridor for the visitors, but Eugene had no desire to touch even a bit. But he saw, at one of the more lonely food spots, a lone woman in her dark brown get up, the writer Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare, sipping a cup of tea and holding a small triangular sandwich. The woman's face lit up, a peculiar thing to happen at this moment when the whole kingdom seemed to hate him – no, to want him dead. Her face was the only friendly one in this whole entire place.

"Good morning, ma'am," Eugene said to the author.

"Good morning, Eugene, even though that is not true. Tea?"

"No, thank you."

"How is the Princess?"

"She is hanging on. But she has not come around."

"Oh. It's been three days now," Wilhelmina said in a thin voice, and suddenly turned cheerful.

"I've known people who had been out cold for two weeks and then jumped back into full health as sudden as summer rain."

"Umm, ma'am, THAT would be me. And you're not helping at all. I should be in there. And I would jump back into full health after two weeks."

"It must hurt you very much."

"I keep thinking how I could make it different, no, better for everyone."

"Eugene, let see all these from a writer's point of view. You yourself always love a good story."

"I do. A good story, yes."

"Say that you unshackled yourself two seconds earlier and came in between Rapunzel and the knife. You got stabbed, and while you're there writhing on the ground, Faustilius got to Rapunzel and both you and her would be dead. Faustilius would still be free and keep trying to bring Gothel back."

"What if I managed to save her without getting myself injured?"

"You still have the assistant Angus to think about. Angus would have done something to you or Rapunzel. I heard that he clocked you in the head with a piece of solid wood before they took you away."

"That is true,"Eugene swallowed.

"However, in this reality, our reality, you killed Faustilius, eliminating a wizard accomplice that Gothel needed to resurrect herself. You have saved Rapunzel, yourself and the whole kingdom from a malevolent threat."

"But nobody thinks that."

"Do you think that the King will force you to go back to the castle if he didn't believe that?"

"Umm, I guess you're right."

"For things that had happen, I will just call it destiny. There are no more 'what ifs'."

"But what can I do now?"

"To face your own destiny."

"And what is that?"

"Your destiny is to give her something to live for."

"Heartbreak?"

"A ring for her hand in marriage," Wilhelmina said as she pulled a small velvet box, the colour of deep purple from the satchel on her lap. She opened the case and she showed him the most exquisite looking ring he had ever seen, and that is saying much, because he has seen some serious pieces of jewellery. It was a gold ring, made up of slender, web-like three smaller circles that met at the centre piece, a diamond as big as Pascal's one beady eye, emitting the seven colours of the rainbow, and encircling the diamond was gold carvings shaped like the corona of the sun.

"I can't take this," Eugene stammered.

"It is a gift," Wilheimina said, putting the box in his hand, and closing his fingers around it.

"It is yours."

"Yes, it was given to me by my mother. It was her wedding ring, at least, that's what she said, and I kept it. Once I wished I had a son so I can give it to him and he to the lady of his dreams. But I remained unmarried. And you're as close to a son I have."

Eugene, who never had anyone being to motherly to him, was touched by Wilhelmina's words. He had wanted to propose to Rapunzel sooner, but things kept creeping up. And he had no ring. He had no trade to gain money from. He couldn't ask the King for a ring to give to his daughter – that is worst than stealing. He couldn't steal, that was absolutely out of the question. And things kept happening, the thought of proposing kept being pushed back to his mind. Along with the feeling that he didn't deserve her.

"At all times, Eugene, the future is uncertain and the past irreparable. That is why, the moment we have right now is very important."

Eugene took the ring and held it tight.

"I will pay you, ma'am, for the ring. After I've got all these settled down, maybe get a real job,"

"Don't worry about it," Wilhelmina said as she tore apart another sandwich.

"Now, go live your dreams, Eugene."

"I will."

Eugene sprinted along the corridor, pass staring and judging faces. He didn't care now. The guards let him into the Princess' room once again, with the look on their faces that said, _great, he_ _has had his toilet break_. The King was still seated by his daughter's side. The queen was there too.

"Fitzherbert, you look absolutely happier, though not better," the King chided gloomily.

"Your majesties, may I ask your permission to have Rapunzel's hand in marriage?" Eugene blurted out. The King and Queen stared at him for a few seconds.

"But – but –"

"Don't worry, I have the ring! The best ring I could possibly give her."

"No. Not that –"

"Rapunzel is still –" the Queen tried to continue her husband's words but failed.

"I love her and she is my dreams. So, I'm going to live my dreams. With your permission of course."

"It is not as if we have a choice, Fitzherbert," the King said with a scowl. And then, they both smiled.

"You have our blessings," the Queen said.

Eugene got on his knees and spoke to the girl he loved gently, even though he is not sure whether she could him.

"Rapunzel, will you marry me?"

Her breathing was as light as a feather. Eugene considered that as a yes.

"Please accept this ring as the token of my promise."

He pulled out a ring from its box and slid it in into her wedding ring finger in her injured hand and kissed her hand. And then he moved further and kissed her on the lips.

"My dear Basil, that is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen!" Queen Annalise gasped.

"For the most beautiful soul I've known in my entire life," Eugene said, a tear sliding down his face. And why was King Basilius not saying anything?

Because, once again, he was tearing up like the way he always do.


	16. Chapter 16

Thank you for the passionate responses from **AIOFanNCRM, Romance and Musicals** on the dissertation topic: **Will 'Tangled' be a legendary film and a genuine classic if Eugene Fitzherbert's character is not resurrected? **For the readers who have been with me from the beginning** - ****An Unknown Foreign Beauty, forgetmenotjimmy, the139Blossom, InkSpellWeaver, NikkyPickles, Spring-Heel-Jacqueline, Soccermustang **stick with me as I go on like a little engine that could. I'm also waiting in bated breath for **The Crown of Corona's Chapter 15** by **Dinasour Barbecue**. If you guys haven't checked it out – you should!

**Chapter 16**

At first, there was nothing for she didn't know how long. Then, she thought she was struggling underwater all time after that. There were very real moments when she thought she was close to coming to the surface and suddenly got pulled back again. And she swam back to the sunlight at the surface, got so close that she could almost touch the faces waiting outside the briny images but she got drowned again. Somehow, she existed just to bob up and down in deep water and shallow water. And all the time, she couldn't remember who or what is she. The soul, disconnected from the senses, was as lonely as a firefly lost in stunning light of the brightest day. Then, something connected her senses to her consciousness. Maybe a healed nerve, a blood vessel put back together again, and she was able to hear a voice talking to her.

The words in the voice carried her to places she didn't remember she had ever been there. But it was very clear in her mind. A sunny but breezy day in the middle of a marketplace and there was music playing. Following the voice she saw people dancing and she felt she was moving too, round and round she went until she went dizzy, to the playing music. She saw a face in the sun, a tall young man with a fair face and a kind smile. He held out his hand time and again for her to catch and somehow on her travel to surface of the water, she missed that hand. The voice continued to play in her ears, and she remembered the taste of these nifty, pretty little things they had together. Cupcakes, he said. His voice travelled with her through happy memories of walking around without a care in the world.

Even in her darkest pit of remembrance, the voice accompanied her to the vision of the lake. He held out his hand, in it fallen flowers from her hair, and she set down the petals on the surface of the water. Then, she saw the lights, the ever important lights. Thousands of them like stars of the constellation coming out all at once. She was looking at them from under and then she felt the lights grew closer with the warmth emitted from their essence. She turned around and he had those lights, lanterns, with him. Together, they set the lights free. And the two lanterns, went up round and round each other, like the two of them in the dance, never together, but never separate, until the two disappeared from sight. Whatever happened to the lights now?

Then, he reached out for her hand and held it. Something cold slipped into her finger. Wait. That did not happen in her mind. She felt her fingers. They were warm in his, but the coldness of the little thing that was slipped into it was prominent.

Finally, with a burst of energy so sudden and strong but short-lived, she managed to catch a clear glimpse of the face on the surface of the water that was imprisoning her.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel said, thinly.

xox

"Rapunzel!" Eugene whispered, his heartbeat barely contained in his ribcage, when he saw the Princess' eyelids fluttered open. His came closer to her and began pushing a strand of her hair out of her forehead. His finger trailed on her temple down to her pale cheek.

"Stay with me, Rapunzel. You're doing fine. You're gonna be alright."

"Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked weakly, somehow the memory of that night in the cave came back to her.

"What? Me?" Eugene was thrown back by the question.

"He's alright, dear," Queen Annalise said and stroke her daughter's hair. Rapunzel smiled weakly and closed her eyes again.

"She is getting better," Lady Morgena announced.

"That is going to be the first of many. Actually, she might take even a shorter time to get well than the time Mr. Fitzherbert took when he was out cold a month ago," the woman said. Eugene was feeling good. He knew that Rapunzel is a feisty fighter.

"The next moment she comes around I'll make her take the potions," the royal midwife announced.

The news spread like streamers at a celebration. The princess had awaken! Eugene went out of the room the moment when the healers were crowded over her. He wanted to see Miss Wilhelmina and tell her the good news. But, tried as he might to find her, he could not. All that was left of her in the seat she had left was another book, similar to the one she gave him through Rapunzel. He picked it up and leafed through it. On the first page was written, _Random Fun Facts About the World of Sorcery. For the eyes of Eugene Fitzherbert. Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare._

With a heavy heart, Eugene took the book and carried it with him. In his room, the book was kept with the first book, on one of the shelves. He was going to read it, but he wanted to keep an eye on Rapunzel. By the way, he hasn't got an audible 'yes' from his beloved. He would stay by her side until she is well enough to think through the ramifications of saying 'yes' to his proposal. For the first time in days, the finger foods in the foyer of the princess quarters looked edible. Eugene sank in Wilhelmina's former chair, carelessly crossed his legs and started to pour himself some tea. The triangle sandwich looked okay to him and he took a bite.

xox

The fair face and the gentle smile was the first that she saw when finally Rapunzel came around for good.

"Eugene!" She said.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene sighed. He put his face to her face and gingerly put his lips on her pale ones. He gave a butterfly-wings-light kiss, fearing that he would hurt her but she leapt hungrily at his lips.

"Uh!" Eugene gasped as her teeth caught his lower lip and she playfully hung on to it. He reciprocated with his soft, relenting ones. She, kept playing the rough one, hurting and teasing at once, knowing that Eugene liked it a little rough. At the end, they shared a long, deep one, as they drank in each other's skin.

"I missed you so much," Eugene said in a muffled voice.

"I missed you too," Rapunzel moaned.

"Wait; there is something on your fingers."

Eugene said and lifted Rapunzel's already healed hand to her face. Rapunzel saw the magnificent ring for the first time. But she didn't know what it means.

"It this a get-well-soon gift?" She asked. Eugene pursed his lips and began thinking of ways to explain it in the most beautiful words he knew how.

"It is a gift, and I do was hoping that you would get better as soon as you possibly could."

"Thank you, Eugene. You don't have to do this. This must have cost you much."

"Erm –" Eugene mused and continued. "Actually, it is more than that. It is more than a gift."

"Oh."

"It's like this," Eugene cleared his throat. "When your dad, the King met and fell in love with your mom, the Queen, he gave her a ring."

"Like you are doing to me now. You love me and you're giving me the ring."

"That's right. But there is more," Eugene continued.

"There is more?"

"With this ring, I'm also asking you to marry me."

"Marry you?"

"You know, be like your mom and dad."

"What happened if we love each other and not marry?"

"Ahh," Eugene exhaled, balancing the dissertation topic delicately in his head.

"It depends actually. In the best case scenario, the couple live together happily and have or have not many children. In the middle case scenario, the couple separate on mutual terms and somewhere along the way the children will be shuttled here and there according to whose turn it is they have to be with. In the worst case scenario, there'll be more people like me – unwanted and without origin."

"That is not true, Eugene," Rapunzel implored sadly, as if she knew something. Eugene shook his head.

"But this is not about me," he said.

"So being married guarantees happily ever after for a couple?"

Eugene thought harder. He realized that he had made an assumption that is very misleading just because he is angry with his rootlessness. There were married couples who ended up miserable and dead and separated with children who were just as miserable and dead and separated.

"Actually, no. Happiness is very much the result of effort and fate but," he breathed in.

"I want you to marry me, and I you, because I want the world to know that I have made a promise to take care of you every second there is still breath in me."

Rapunzel went silent at those words. There were so beautiful, they surpassed the uncertainty of definitions and worldly conditions of the law and religion about marriage. She knew a lot about promises. And she does not take promises lightly. To her, promises are bonds that shall be kept until the pain of death separate the person and his promise. Rapunzel saw Eugene got on both his knees like he was begging for her to spare his life and held her hand with the sun-shaped gold-diamond ring. With his eyes fixed to hers, he uttered solemnly.

"Rapunzel, will you marry me?"

Rapunzel had tears at the brink of her eyes.

"Yes! Eugene, yes!"

The two collapsed into each other. Eugene buried his face in her neck and cherished her sweet smell. Rapunzel's face was buried in his hair and she drank in his summer air scent. They wanted so much the moment to last forever.


	17. Chapter 17

Thanx everyone for the reminders and encouraging words. This is my first fanfic and I'm getting used to some of the concepts slowly especially the ratings. **InkSpellViewer** shared her view that she thinks 'Tangled' would be legendary if Eugene had died at the end (she's the only one as I'm still mulling over this possibility). Think about it! But before that they have to make extra minutes of Eugene time to replace the happy kingdom celebration (probably more of Eugene's back story and that would kill us even more!). If not, the film would be too short!

**Chapter 17 **

King Basilius stared Eugene down. Eugene tried to clear the constriction in his throat. The King cleared his first.

"So, let me get this out of the way first and foremost."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You and my daughter are engaged to be married."

"I have asked her twice, Your Highness. And she finally said yes."

"I'm aware of that," King Basilius dismissed that statement and continued, "the thing is, I do not want anymore sudden disappearance on your part from today onwards."

"I can't promise things that are beyond my perception of the current moment , Your Highness. But I assure you that I intend to stay by her side and protect her at all times until the day I die."

"That does not sound so good considering your track record. But most importantly, I do not want you climbing out of windows and shimmying down towers anymore, now that you're going to be extremely busy."

"Are you giving me some kind of a job? Because that's good you know. I mean, I've got this huge debt connected to the ring-"

"Being the husband of a princess is a JOB, Fitzherbert."

"Oh."

"And it's not because I don't trust your grace and refinement, no offense," the King gave a furtive glance at him from head to toe, looking beyond his superhuman good looks and continued.

"None taken, your majesty."

"But you have a lot to learn before the ceremony begins and then the celebration. There'll be dignitaries from all over the land coming to share our joy," King Basilius' words fell upon his ears like water to sand because his vision was already swimming. Eugene's heart began to race as the enormity of the event began crashing down upon him. He had never been in a family before. He had never been under the wings of one set of parents and never been surrounded by any form of blood connection. He had never celebrated or helped prepare a wedding for anyone before. And now, he is going to be the bridegroom of the biggest wedding the land has ever seen. How is he going to survive that? He asked desperately inside.

"So, while Rapunzel is on the mend, you're going to attend tutorials. And then, the fittings sessions. Oh, the fitting sessions will kill you. And there are things that will need your counsel even when most of the things are planned by the chamberlains. You have to attend to that too."

King Basilius saw that Eugene was sweating like the tropics. And summer was at its end.

"Are you listening, Fitzherbert?"

Eugene was slightly swaying and there was nothing he could hold on to. King Basilius grabbed his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I don't know what's gotten over me," Eugene said, his face pale. King Basilius saw himself in the young face of the man who stole his daughter's heart. He broke into a gentle smile.

"Cold feet, huh?"

"No, I'm really happy Rapunzel is going to marry me and you being so generous about it. But, in my whole life, I've never been through anything remotely mirroring this. I am terrified and overwhelmed."

"Come on, Fitzherbert. Let's get something to eat and I'll fix you a drink."

King Basilius wrapped one huge arm on his lean shoulders and led him to the kitchen, laughing.

The whole two weeks after the proposal zoomed off like a blur. Everything the King predicted came true. Rapunzel grew better each day. Her wounds healed without complications and she began her life as the kingdom's princess once again. Everyone commented on the beautiful healthy glow about her face. Everyone could not believe that she was able to turn things around for herself so swiftly, it was miraculous. But only Eugene and she knew that the glow what brought about by the complete and utter happiness of finally being bound together by a promise.

Ah, the anticipation before consummating the passion they had for each other is bitter sweet. Every time Eugene looked at Rapunzel who was standing inches away from him, he knew what is in her heart. The thought of him possessing her and her him were so tangible that it almost drowned them. Sometimes, the longing was so painful that during the time he had alone, he would purposely locked himself in his room, and turned to Wilhelmina's _Fun Facts_ book, just to get her off his mind. And Rapunzel herself was too busy to visit as she was preoccupied with the details of the wedding that are so impertinent more to the womenfolk than it could ever be to the men. Eugene read the Fun Facts Book and along the way formed his own opinion to keep his mind alert.

_ Fun Facts of the World of Sorcery:_

These facts are not arranged in any order of importance. But each should be considered with the uttermost care:

Never make a sorcerer holds a grudge against you. (Oh, crap, Eugene gushed)

A sorcerer is bound by his promise. If you are in a position to make him promise something, use that as a weapon. (Really?)

Sorcerers like their humans pure (What does that mean?)

Sorcerers give up their powers to have children, an alternative to immortality (Go figure that out!) But they are allowed to keep one last power of their own choosing that when once used will cause in the sorcerer's demise. (Too vague, dismissable)

A sorcerers does not leave a body. They turn to dust for the evil ones or mist for the good ones. (Peachy, no need for funeral service)

xox

The woman with the long wavy hair stood in front of the block of apartments in the middle of town. Life in the kingdom had become quiet as the dusk approached. She looked like she was in her teen years. Her hair was wavy and black so deep that it appeared to have a tinge of blue. Her face was small and her lips puckered innocently. But her eyes did not display the innocence of a young girl. Their grey orbs, framed by black kohl and thick lashes, were layered by the thinnest ice.

"This is the house of the writer Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare, m'lady Gothel," the short, almost hunchbacked man accompanying the young lady said.

"The writer!" The young lady snorted and laughed, "How can you be so thick? Have you not learn anything from Faustilius? She is a wizard. I can smell her wizard essence the moment I stepped in the town square," the young woman said. The man winced at the word 'thick'.

"Why are we here?" The man said.

"I am stealing powers from wizards. Since I found that I can take powers from Faustilius when he died I've been keeping my senses alert. I never thought I'm going to find one in the middle of this pathetic kingdom," Gothel explained, beside herself.

"What on earth are you doing there, you fool? Enter the house and club her, Angus!" Gothel ordered the man. "Can't you get it through your thick skull that I cannot enter another wizard's lair without permission. There is probably a spell cast around this house."

"But I love her books."

"Are you not my slave?"

"Slave? I thought I am your apprentice?"

"Daughter, snatched baby. Apprentice, slave. Whatever."

"And you haven't given anything of your possession to induct me as an apprentice. Faustilius gave me this magic chest."

"That you have to carry around for the rest of pathetic life! Oh just open the door for me, Angus."

Angus stepped to the front porch and fumbled with a key.

"I don't know why it took so looong..." Gothel chided. Angus couldn't fit the dents of the key blade to the grooves in the lock.

"Imbecile!" Gothel said in anger and losing control she pushed her hand to the door handle. She grabbed hold of it and with a click, the door opened. Gothel gasped.

"What? She puts no spell on her house for protection against wizards?"

"I thought my lady will be pleased," Angus asked, "there's no one here."

"No, no, no!" Gothel said.

They entered the living space of a woman who had devoted her life to the creation of tales. There was nothing in the house that shows Wilhelmina is a practitioner of magic, good or bad.

"I can't believe she gave up her magic. For what?"

"To have children maybe? To fall in love?" Angus said.

"What a waste!" Gothel writhed in anger. Wilhelmina is the first wizard she detected after her resurrection and she had high hopes for her powers.

"But you're already too strong. You are already able to reverse your body to an even younger age. You are also an architect like Faustilius. What is it that you want?"

"You fool? What are your tricks, asking questions like a moron? I still have much to gain – shapeshifting, apparating, ..."

Angus cowered not in fear but in sadness. Gothel did not notice this. She spun around the living space looking for something, anything that would tell her that Wilhelmina still has some kind of power she could take. She found instead a beautiful invitation made from paper embossed with petals of lavender. On it was the emblem of the kingdom that was deeply branded in her memory. The writings on the invitation were etched in gold ink.

_Miss Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare was cordially invited to the royal wedding of our daughter, Princess Rapunzel of Corona and her bethrothed, Mr. Eugene Fitzherbert. _

"What? So soon?" Gothel screamed, reading the invitation and turned to Angus, who was absent-mindedly looking at a book _– The Tales of Flynnegan Rider: Flynnegan Rider and the Heroic Hunchback of the Black Tower._

"Quick, you fool, we have to make preparations. Once the Fitzherbert boy lost his virginity to Rapunzel, his essence will do very little good to my powers! We have a wedding night to crash!"

But Angus was already reading the book. He was not listening to a word said by Gothel.

_Once, there was an orphan cast onto the streets because he was hideous to lay eyes upon. The orphan, a hunchback, even though so hated, was resilient and strong. He walked despite the hunger and cold and went to the warmest place in the city – the tower where they burned coal and siphoned the warm air to the castle of the city's ruler. _

_ But at the edge of the city there was a rich man who had come to stay in the city for a visit. Though he was of untold wealth and good looks, he has the most generous of hearts. Because when he was younger, he was an orphan too. _

_ His name was Flynnegan Rider. People also called him Flynn Rider._

Angus looked at Gothel and smiled.

"I'm leaving, m'lady."

"What? I need you for my plan to get Flynn Rider."

"What? No! I'm no longer offering you my service. You're not going to hurt anyone with my hands. You are not going to hurt Flynn Rider. Not him."

"We'll see how that goes," Gothel said and waved her hand at him. A bolt of lightning rushed at Angus but left no trace once it reached him.

"I was never your servant or apprentice. You have promised me nothing and so, you have no power upon me."

Angus turned away and never looked back, leaving Gothel simmering in anger.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks for the continuous support. You are asking very important questions. AIOFanNCRM, forgetmenotjimmy, InkSpellWeaver think that Eugene is not a virgin. So, new dissertation topic: **Is Eugene Fitzherbert A Virgin or Not? (And Punzy don't have to know this fact – but we must!)** Be prepared to give reasons for your opinion. I made this assumption by what Eugene said about Flynn Rider during the campfire scene – "Richest man alive, not bad with the ladies – **nothing to brag about of course**) Anyway, I want Eugene for myself! I do love reviews and keep them coming.

**Chapter 18**

There was a bubble of calmness surrounding Eugene as the world around him grew mad with euphoria. He was standing on the steps of the castle, now decorated in the folding and and layering of miles and miles of pink lavender fabric. There were millions of flowers surrounding them, put into bouquets of wondrous craftsmanship. There were a hundred of people of at the front of the castle, while the rest of the kingdom was waiting outside. King Basilius himself was helming the exchange of vows.

"Are you ready for the exchange of vows?"

"Yes," both Rapunzel and Eugene said in unison. Eugene cut her off.

"Your Majesty, please let me begin."

"Yes, Mr. Fitzherbert, you may."

"Rapunzel," Eugene said.

"Yes, Eugene?"

"I am nothing and I have nothing," he paused. Clearly he did not write down, but the words came out from deepest part of his soul, carrying with them his story of a broken life.

" But I promise you that as long as I live, I will give you my heart and I will protect you from harm. I will cherish and treasure you with every breath that I have in me, until the day I die. I love you, Rapunzel."

"Oh, Eugene. You are my life." She on the other had a script she wrote beforehand. But she abandoned it because she was not prepared for anything that he would say.

"You are everything good that I know in this world. I promise that I will love you, through sickness and health, through good and bad, for the rest of my life. I promise, my love."

"Eugene Fitzherbert, do you take Rapunzel as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"That and more, I do, Your Highness."

"Rapunzel, do you take Eugene Fitzherbert as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"That and everything he is."

" I pronounce you man and wife."

The crowd cheered.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Eugene kissed Rapunzel on the lips. Eugene was glad the exchange of vows went without a hitch. They kissed deep and when they let go, it is as if they had escaped death and found each other in his and her arms.

Next, the parade. Then the feasting. Then the acceptance of gifts from foreign dignitaries. It was only after sundown that the two finally retired to their wedding chamber. There was a long and winding flight of stairs they had to traverse before they arrived at the outer sanctum of their wedding chamber, where they place guards by the nth. Before they alight the stairs, Eugene swooped Rapunzel from the floor.

"Ahh!" Rapunzel said giddily.

"I've always wanted to do this. I know you would be a lot lighter without your magical hair."

Rapunzel put her hands around Eugene's neck and stared into his eyes adoringly. His strong arms held her securely and his strong legs and core carried her up the stairs with ease. Seeing the arrival of the newlyweds, the guards opened the door to the inner sanctum and they closed the door to after making sure no intruder was in it both rooms. Thus the guards ended their privy of the wedding chamber and continued their watch on the corridors outside the outer sanctum.

The moment they arrived in the privacy of the wedding chamber, Rapunzel jumped off Eugene's arms. She pulled the vest on his chest and led him along until they tumbled on the wide wedding bed, strewn with rose petals.

"Where is Pascal?" Eugene asked, laughing at her impatience.

"He is not here."

"Good. Because this would have been awkward."

Rapunzel began planting kisses on Eugene's neck.

"Oh, no you don't," said Eugene as he turned the tables and ducked into Rapunzel's neck. He kissed her and bit, leaving light marks as he went along. His left hand, with the dexterity of one accustomed to snatching and undoing, had already started working at the ribbons tying her dress together at her back. Merely seconds later, he had slid the collar of the dress down to her delicately fair shoulders. He started kissing her left collarbone and trickled them down the middle of her chest. Then, he stopped there, basking in the smell of her sweetness. She let out a sigh like a woman who tasted a morsel of paradise. Next, he kissed her breasts lighty, hesitating to nibble on them, just because he was dumbfounded by their beauty. His pondering moment toward her perfection of form made her took a course of action of her own. She moved with a sudden burst of strength and pushed him onto the bed, flat on his back. She let loose and pulled the shirt off their buttons, and top half of his torso was undone and exposed. Eugene gasped at this display of roughness.

"I must finish what I started," Rapunzel breathed out heavily. Eugene remembered the night before the Gothel's wraith appeared. She was exploring him, yet she had set up a boundary that he was compelled to respect. Tonight, there was such boundary. Only abandonment of things they had built to make themselves the most precious gifts they have for each other. Gothel and the tower and their recent enemies seemed so far away, buried by their happiness. Rapunzel traced the scar on his solar plexus, his sweet spot for him and her, with her lips, sending shivers deep inside him. The tremble in his soul stirred the deep heat kept in his loins. He was still able to withstand it, waiting for her to further surprise him.

"Be my guest, Princess.

Then she did the most bewildering thing he had ever experienced in his half-way life and unfinished adventures. Her tongue previously had traced the roundness of his navel and suddenly, she bit softly but sharply at the small protrusion of his belly. Eugene felt like he had stopped breathing and his heart skipped a beat or two.

"You're an outtie!" Rapunzel gasped.

"Do you like it?" Eugene asked with his vision swimming and his sense of time and place totally loss. He had attempts by women to pleasure him before, but he still had the balance and orientation to make his quick getaway after grabbing a jewel or two. But this time, Rapunzel had made him totally helpless and weak. When he thought she could not do anything much more paralyzingly pleasurable than that, she began to put bee sting-like traces with her little mouth and little precise teeth from below his navel down to his loins, following the delicate line of hair on his flat and firm abdomen.

"Very much, you scoundrel!"

Eugene thought that she really didn't give him with any kind of restrain that he could hang on to and made a resolve he would pleasure her in return, the way she had done him. Steeling his resolve, Eugene slid her on her back swiftly and gently but confidently. He slid her dress down to the tender part of her stomach. The scar made her even more dangerously tempting. She was exposed to him in all her glory, like a flower in full bloom. He slid into her embrace. Feeling the same needful sensations, she instinctively opened her legs and let him slide his finely sculpted torso between them.

"Eugene!"

"Rapunzel!"

They say that the groans of near death and the moans of ecstasy are very much alike and these two has came close to the former and now at the peak of the latter.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

There was a series of loud knocks on the door.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Someone had entered the inner sanctum and pounded on the door of the lovers' nest with the intention of shaking them out of whatever it was they are doing. Eugene gasped, totally distracted by the loudness of the knocking and suddenly aware what such knocks could only bring. He stopped and released her.

"No, no, no. Eugene!" Rapunzel moaned desperately. Eugene got up from the bed and put his shirt back on. He looked at the panting and dizzy Rapunzel and smiled encouragingly.

"You know they will not disturb us if it isn't important," he said and strode to the door. When he opened the door, he saw that it was the chamberlain.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. But the King seeks an audience with you."

"Now?"

"Yes. It is of the utmost importance."

Eugene got back inside and put on a long robe. Rapunzel had already sat up on the bed, her les folded close to her body. Eugene planted a little kiss on her cheek.

"Believe it or not, it's your father," Eugene said with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh," Rapunzel said and fell back onto bed.

"I'll go and see what the King wants," Eugene said and went off.

The chamberlain brought Eugene to the dungeons. The road to the cold and damp sent dark memories alive in his mind. If his wedding day wasn't just a few hours ago, he would be in a different mood altogether. As he walked towards the dungeons, he swore that he is going to go back to Rapunzel and pleasure her all over again and even more.


	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you very much reviewers. Although this story will continue as long as I breathe and have my fingers to type till it reaches its end, you have no idea how much your reviews mean to me.**

**Chapter 19**

The King was in the middle of a circle made of sturdy men, guards with their swords and spears drawn. In the centre of that circle, was a man sitting on an old wooden chair. He was dressed in shabby coat and tired trousers, but his face was as alert as a fox's. He was not blessed with elegant height but his body was strong in its strange deformity. Eugene would know the man if he saw him anywhere, dressed like a beggar or a king.

"Tell me what you want," The King bellowed. The man was awed by his majesty's rage but he did not flinch.

"I will only speak to Flynn Rider."

"Do you mean Eugene Fitzherbert?" The King bellowed again. Before his father-in-law could yell some more, Eugene interrupted the strange interrogation.

"I'm here!" He said. The King turned to Eugene desperately.

"This man has no right to decide the terms of this, this – dialogue. He is in my castle."

Eugene gave the King a look he never had sported before. He was determined to get to the bottom of the matter and solve the problem at its roots. For a moment in his happiness, he thought that it was all over and he was ready to move on. Now, the bane was staring him right in the face and there was no other option for him but to go through the steps one by one, till the end. This one is not going to go away until I make it go away, he said to himself.

"Please Your majesty, let the man speak."

Eugene was thinking of his bride in their warm nest. But he was not thinking about continuing his previous endeavour, but thinking about the future of them together with Gothel's memory and its repercussions. That is the best case scenario. The worst case scenario was beyond him to drink in just yet.

As Eugene stood in front of the man, he saw that Angus was not showing any sign that he is going to open his mouth. Eugene asked everyone to leave. The King was not moving.

"Trust me, Your Majesty. I will take care of this."

The King grumbled and left the dungeons.

"Now speak."

"Gothel is after you."

"What? I thought the magic didn't work –" Eugene said, shaking his head like thought he was in some kind of a very bad dream.

"It worked. And she is more powerful now. She has become a sorceress again."

"A sorceress, that makes sense," Eugene thought loudly of the ideas he had the moment he knew Rapunzel is the lost princess. The thought had crossed his mind in his time between injuries and adventure; Gothel's possession of the magical golden flower, her incantations, her dexterity in breaking and entering, the mysterious tower out in the middle of nowhere, her peculiar strength as she was able to put Rapunzel in chains and how she had pulled him from the spot he was lying, bleeding and then turned him over and chained him to the banister.

"What does she want?" The question was uttered in both anger and despair.

"Revenge."

"What did I ever do to her?"

"You took what she thought had belonged to her."

"Rapunzel."

"Yes. The lost princess. Her golden flower. Her one chance at immortality, the eternal bane of the human existence."

"But Rapunzel has nothing now that is useful to her. Her magic is gone."

"And all because of you! And she will not stop until she gets her vengeance on you. She will hurt everyone that is ever connected to you, until she gets to you."

Eugene let the man's words fall on him like hail, cold and hard and in the hundreds of thousands sharp, biting pain. He was angry that this man had ever come to tell him that. Excruciatingly painful as it was, it was actually very easy to get stabbed in the dark, when he did not know what was coming. At least he did not have to anticipate in fear of anything. And when the injury had done its work, he knew and accepted his fate readily. He and spoken in the past tense because he knew he was beyond rescue. _You were my new dream_. And Rapunzel, she knew it too. He was broken beyond repair. _And you were mine_. That was so damn easy! But now, this is different. This has upped the hunt and the game to a whole new level.

"Why are you doing this? You didn't have to come here and tell me this. Why didn't you just let her come here and take me by surprise and I don't have to THINK about all these!"

"I want to see what will happen if you have the choices in making a very important decision – like what Flynnegan Rider did in the stories," Angus showed Eugene a book that he kept inside his coat.

"Right," Eugene sighed. Stories! How they shaped lives that live by them.

"But you know you'll be tried for being an accomplice to an attempt on the Princess' life."

"I didn't know my wizard master was going to kill the Princess," the man said. Despite his scientific curiosity and his amoral stance about human lives and destiny, for once, Eugene felt the man was genuinely honest about what happened that night in the damn cave.

"I'll speak to the King to grant you clemency in the light of the current development."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Eugene turned to leave.

"Wait, Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"You said too many things in a sentence, which is so unlike Flynnegan Rider. But then I assumed that you have too much on your mind now to remember that you used to be Flynn Rider."

"What did I say?"

"You asked why I didn't just let her come here and take you by surprise so you don't have to THINK about all these. And I wasn't given the chance to answer that part of the question."

"What is your answer to that part of the question?"

"She's already here. "

"What?"

"And be not deceived, because she appears younger. Goth –"

Without waiting for the answer to be completed, Eugene turned and ran to the waiting men outside and yelled.

xox

Rapunzel got out of bed and began putting her dress back together again with a sigh. She put on a long robe and opened the door. She wanted to take a look at what was happening to the castle. Why was Eugene taking everything like they were all his problems? This is her kingdom by the way. This is her castle anyway.

But outside the inner sanctum was a lady-in-waiting, a young girl with long wavy black hair and wide grey eyes. Her mouth was wide and a generous smile was spread on her face which made Rapunzel quickly felt at ease with her. There was something about the girl's face that made her felt at home and open to kindness.

"Your Highness, I brought you supper, so you will be replenished to continue with your wedded bliss. The Lady Morgena sent some aphrodisiac and also a tonic for Lord Ri – Fitzherbert," the young girl said, carrying a tray of chocolates and drinks and some biscuits with hot tea.

"Oh," Rapunzel said, embarrassed. She never thought that her activities tonight are privy to the whole royal health department.

"Please come in and put them on the table."

"You must be very happy tonight. My deepest congratulations to both your majesties," the girl said and put the tray of things on the table at the centre of the room.

"Are you married?" In a burst of friendliness that she always have, like when did when she was at the tavern, Snuggly Duckling, Rapunzel asked the girl.

"No, your majesty. I'm still very young. I'm only fifteen. I just managed to get to work here today, as the castle was very much in need of more hands for the wedding."

"Oh, don't rush it. It's not so great as you would thought it would be. There are so many things that will come in your way to love. It's just tiring," Rapunzel gushed.

"Oh, I think marriage is great. I mean, those secret stories about wedding nights, they are just very sweet, I think."

"Ah, the wedding night!" Rapunzel sighed.

"I'm sorry I have to ask, Your Majesty. But how was it?" The girl asked, her eyes imploring.

Rapunzel let out a laugh and she began to cry, in tiredness and frustration as well as the strangeness of it all.

"Well, something came up and we have to postpone it, I guess."

"Oh, that's a pity." The girl's innocent wide eyed look faded and was replaced by a simple malice that was easily detectable but Rapunzel was not able to process the change as a force burst into the door. It was Eugene, in a blur of speed and followed by men of a large number. There was a flash of swinging metal as Eugene moved like an angry cat towards the girl. What Rapunzel saw next with her very own eyes was a young girl with a bleeding throat and a sword in Eugene's hand.

"Eugene? What is going on? Why?" Rapunzel cried in despair. Why would Eugene hurt, no slash an innocent girl in the throat?

But then all her misgivings were erased when before her very eyes, she saw the long gash in the girl's throat repaired itself and the terrible wound was erased like it never happened. This made Eugene rooted to the spot, at loss for words and actions. The girl, feeling and seeing herself repaired like that, did not look happy at all. In fact, she looked very terribly shocked herself. The expressive face in violent realization of some great truth reminded Rapunzel of someone who used to be very important to her.

"Mother!" Rapunzel gasped, as if she had lost her sense of place and time. Eugene lunged again the young girl with the sword, this time aiming for the heart.

But the girl with long dark wavy hair disappeared into thin air, transformed into flying dusts, which disappeared as well.


	20. Chapter 20

**Fourteen or so days till Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore sing at the Oscars. They must be practising like CRAZY now! I can only imagine what they're gonna wear and how they're going to set the stage. Will there be floating lights and the gondola-like boat? Will Alan Menken and his piano be suspended from the roof? Ahh, I have enough things driving me crazy already, but to add that into the list? Guh!**

**Chapter 20**

Gothel felt her like she was crushed by a giant hand when she was hurled to the floor as if she had fallen from a great height. For a moment, she thought she was dead. But her hand flew to her throat and felt that her youthful skin was unbroken and no blood was flooding out from it. But the blinding pain was real to her. She had no idea how she survived the fatal cut. She took in her surrounding and found that she was back in the tower, in HER tower.

Gothel let out a bloodcurling scream as she celebrated the air she was breathing. She was totally unprepared by what had happened. She didn't expect herself to able to heal. If she had known that, she would have been bolder in her endeavour for revenge. And she was certainly she was not prepared with her new found ability to apparate. Her knowledge of the existence of that skill in her beforehand would have changed her game plan altogether. Gothel was aware that she was able to manipulate solid objects, like she was an instrument of poltergeist and she was able to built structures in unoccupied space, results of energy transference from her summoner Faustilius. But apparating and instant self-healing? Those were very pleasant surprises.

But having the experience of almost half a millennium of life, she knew not to be disillusioned by false hope. She unsheathed the dagger, the very dagger where Flynn Rider's untainted, pure virgin blood had travelled, from a secret place on her slender, white thigh. She cut the palm of her left hand and saw black red blood trickled down her fingers. Seconds passed and nothing happened. Her blood kept dripping and Gothel screamed.

"Heal! Damn you, heal!"

But nothing happened. Gothel clutched her hand and began desperately searching for some kind of bandage. She found it and bandaged her hand. Then, she closed her eyes and willed herself out of tower. In her mind, she was travelling at the speed of thought to the ground outside the tower. Seconds passed and nothing happened. She was still in her tower, with the decor and the rooms remaining the same, except for absence of the accursed paintings made by her captive 'daughter' Rapunzel. Golden suns, floating lights, please! The girl was no Da Vinci, Gothel swore irritatingly.

Gothel went to the large mirror standing at the corner of the tower's living space. She looked at her face. She saw that her skin's elasticity had slackened since the time she was in the castle. It seemed that she was more human than she was before time in the castle when she was farther from the castle. And she was at her strongest when –

The thought she had in split second was branded in her mind like hot, flaming metal. Gothel, with her hand in bandage and her young face slowly deteriorating into the face her captive kidnapped daughter was familiar with, began to laugh. The laughter started with a tone of self pity and then, turned into a maniacal one, ringing in every nook and cranny of the tower.

xox

"What can we do? What can we do?" The King asked despairingly. The Head of the Royal Servants were brought in for questioning. How could she let in the kingdom's most wanted? But the King nor the Queen nor the Captain of the Guards could blame her. It wasn't like there was any wanted poster of the woman named Gothel. And nobody actually knew ho w she looked like except for Princess Rapunzel and her husband, Lord Fitzherbert. Gothel's only known allies before this whole resurrection thing were Stabbington brothers, who had been sent for hard labour in the mines at the edge of the kingdom. The girl who healed herself and disappeared into thin air in front of everybody's eyes was a servant girl, doing what she supposed to do, and it just happened that she is the kingdom's greatest enemy. And even Rapunzel did not recognize her at first look. According to Rapunzel, the woman Gothel was way older, well into her forties. This servant girl was a girl younger than the Princess. There was no way Rapunzel could recognise her. The only thing that saved Rapunzel was the information given by the former apprentice of sorcery, Angus.

And the most obvious reason why nobody could be blamed for this act of treachery is the simple fact that – Gothel, witch or woman, was dead.

"We are dealing with sorcery, Your Majesty. None of your guards or their weapons will stop her as she is no longer human. The only way to do this is, for me, is to find her and ASK her what she wants. Maybe I'll trick her into self-destruction," Eugene said to the King. King Basilius looked at him as if he was going to eat him alive.

"Son, no more of your lone adventurer-vagabond business. The only thing that you should do now is to be with your bride!"

"But, your majesty –"

"DO YOU WANT ME TO DRAG YOU TO YOUR CHAMBER MYSELF?"

"No, no, no, sire. I'm good, I'm good."

"Good. Because I will figure this thing out."

Eugene walked back to the bridal chamber. He saw Rapunzel waiting at the bottom of the stairs where he had so happily carried her just hours ago. She ran to him and put her arms around his neck. Eugene buried his face in the crook of her neck, grateful that she was unharmed. Eugene was about to sweep her legs into his strong arms before she shook her head.

"No, I'm not going to the bridal chamber. Let's go to your room."

"As you wish, Princess."

The simplicity of Eugene's room and its barrenness seemed to erase the trauma of the scene in the bridal chamber. Eugene put her on the bed. Both were without words to express the kind of anxiety and fear they have in their hearts. Rapunzel held out her hand to touch Eugene's face and put her lips to his. They kissed lightly. And then, Rapunzel's hand started to travel to Eugene's waist. Eugene stopped her hand.

"No, Rapunzel. No."

Rapunzel was taken aback.

"Eugene, I need you more than I ever need you before," she said, tears in her eyes. Eugene took her hand, with fingers already hooked at the front of his trousers and brought it to his lips. He kissed her delicate fingers.

"Give me something to remind me that tonight is our wedding night," Rapunzel implored. It shredded Eugene's heart to see Rapunzel having to beg for something that he would gladly give, in another time, in another place, in a whole different situation.

"Listen to me, Rapunzel. Listen to what I have to say."

Eugene looked into Rapunzel's teary eyes.

"In my mind's eyes, there are us and our first child. A little boy with green eyes and brown hair. Or a little girl with your green eyes, a perfect image of you. She or he has your inquisitiveness and my adventurous streak, a runaway heart –"

"Let's have our little Fitzherbert!" Rapunzel whispered.

"I'm not finished, Princess," Eugene put his finger on her lips. Rapunzel nodded in resignation.

"I can take all these, deceptions and violence and sorcery. You can take them too. But I can't live every day I breathe thinking something or someone is lurking behind every tree and every bush ready to pound on our little child at any time it feels like doing it. I can't survive thoughts like that. And I can't let our unborn child and our other little children to suffer this kind of terror."

Rapunzel's eyes widen with terror.

"So, you'd rather not have them?"

"If you are going to have our child, I want to make sure that I'm going to be there by your side. I cannot imagine how a mother can carry a child without the man who gave her that child by her side when she brings the child into the world. It would be the loneliest and the most heartbreaking thing in the world," Eugene said, as if carrying a story in his solitary past in his voice. Rapunzel knew what was going on in his head and it was driving her mad as she began to fear losing him and not having anything as a token of their love.

"Why is it always about you, Eugene? How about me? Do you care what I want?"

"See this in a bigger picture, Princess. If anything happens, you are still free –"

"Shhh!"

Rapunzel put the palm of her hand on Eugene's mouth and begged him to keep quiet. She understood what he meant but it was so difficult to accept it.

"All this talk about the future and the past is making me tired," Eugene said and pulled Rapunzel's head on his chest and in his arms. She was crying silently on him, making him wet with her tears.

"Let's get some sleep. You will feel better tomorrow."

They both fell in each other's arms. Eugene fell into deep sleep first. He snored lightly. Rapunzel released herself from his embrace and sat on the bed. She studied her husband's face. With her fingers, she removed a cowlick covering his forehead. She traced lightly his thick sword-like brows and then his perfectly formed sharp nose. Then, she kissed his closed eyes, and his cheeks. Her fingers moved down to his chiselled cheek. And lastly, her fingers arrived at the magnificent tuft of hair on his sharp chin. She kissed the stubbornly beautiful accessory of his husband's face. She wondered what it would feel like if he tickled her stomach with that goatee. As soon as he is up for it, Rapunzel would tell him about that and make sure that he will do it to the best of his ability. Rapunzel spent an hour more basking in the statuesque beauty possessed by the man who was lying prone and unconscious in front of her, until finally fatigue set in and she slept a fitful sleep next to him, her arms tucked into an opening of his shirt.

A few minutes later, Eugene sat up like an Egyptian mummy suddenly brought to life and ready to terrorize the living. He panted and groaned. All that time, when Rapunzel was poking and proding him he was fully awake. And he had an erection as big as nobody's business that he had to hold in.

"Argh, Rapunzel. You are driving me crazy!" He moaned.

With a sigh, he got up from bed and began taking things from the shelves on the wall; the journal Wilhelmina gave her and one of the Flynnegan Rider books he had finished reading, _Redemption of The Baroness Westenra._ He put them all in his satchel and headed to the dungeons. The guards did not question his intentions, as they were probably entertaining the same thought he had in his head. _What would Flynn Rider do?_ Damn, those stories! Why would anyone write them? He cursed.

Angus woke up with a start when Eugene threw the book _Redemption of The Baroness Westenra _onto him.

"Do they have library service in prison?" Angus asked.

"This is an incentive for answering my questions. More will come if I can prove that your information is worthy of reward."

"I'm all ears, Mr. Rider."

"Where can I find Gothel?"

Angus smiled. Eugene did not reciprocate. But they both knew that a very important decision had been made at this very moment, even without an utterance.


	21. Chapter 21

I'm celebrating my **50****th**** review**! Thank you all. With my shortcomings and retarded opinions showing in my essays, you still believe in the story. **An Unknown Foreign Beauty, forgetmenotjimmy, the139Blossom, InkSpellWeaver, NikkyPickles, Spring-Heel-Jacqueline, Soccermustang, AIOFanNCRM, Romance and Musicals, Lady with a veil, Funkywatermelon, **love you all! I know you don't like OCs and I'm cutting them one by one before the bitter end, and maybe I'll just leave one last OC to tie the ends together at the climax.

**Chapter 21**

Wilhelmina returned to her apartment after the whole day of merry-making on the castle ground. Nobody, a recluse or otherwise, would decline offer of free food and drinks. And of course, she was celebrating her son's wedding – to the kingdom's Princess.

The moment Wilhelmina entered her apartment; she knew something had gone amiss. There were things which moved from the spot she last left them. And she never missed a missing book. The book _Flynnigan Rider and the Hunchback of the Black Tower_ was missing. She felt dark energy in her house but she had lost much of her knowledge of the craft to detect where it came from. An enquiry to the landlady was proven futile because EVERYONE was at the wedding.

And then there was a kind of tug in her heart that she experienced when Eugene had went to hunt for the sorcerer Faustilius in the cave. She had the intuition that Eugene was not where he was supposed to be. But she brushed that feeling aside, because, it was the night after the wedding! Where else he should be but in the warm embrace of his bride?

"You must be very irrational to be jealous of their happiness. Your son is now another woman's," Wilhelmina chided herself, laughing. She sat down at her desk and began to write all night. She wrote relentlessly.

The very reason Wilhelmina wrote so passionately was because she did not, in her moment of idle thoughts, want to revisit her past or ponder about her future. Living in the moment was her tenet in life, yet doing it is difficult without help of dangerous substances that eat at her insides. So, she created her own tonic, the one that allowed her to occupy her mind from straying to the past and wandering into the future, which is thinking about the lives of people who don't exist. And then writing them down, so they become so real she could tell it to people as if the people she wrote about were made of flesh and blood.

Her life had been fraught with bad choices she had made, one after another. Possessing acute sensitivity and insight, she dabbled into the summoning of energy in nature. Then, she fell in love and made a child with a man when she was completely unprepared for it to happen. Her respect toward all living things made her carry the child to terms, and as a result giving up her immortality. But then, when the man who fathered the child never returned from a protracted war in a foreign land, she was left alone without anything to fall back onto. She gave her child up at the door step of an orphanage, giving him nothing but breath in his body and a name written on a piece of paper. The guilt of having to take that action never left her. She began to lose her summoning energy and she turned to the only thing that could quiet the noise of reprimands and accusations in her mind, writing stories about people in places far away from here. But that could never completely bury her guilt. These angry voices manage to appear in her sleep. Not able to stand it, she decided that she wants to redeem her mistake.

One day, she made a promise witnessed by a solar eclipse that she would give up her summoning powers and asked the world to give her one chance to redeem herself for abandoning her son. The world relented, but she was never to reveal herself as the mother of the child by her own tongue. So, Wilhelmina lived in sadness and in writing. Silently, she dedicated her books to her son, whom she never thought she would ever meet, until that day the messengers from the castle fetch her from her lonely apartment.

Since then, she shadowed the movements of Eugene Fitzherbert. She gloried in his union with the Princess he so deserved and finally, after a day and a night of celebration she returned to her apartment and slumped in the middle of her books. Wilhelmina didn't get the chance to go deep into her latest book yet when a knock at her door jolted her from fantastic reverie. It was already mid-morning of the day after Eugene's wedding. She opened the door and was surprised to see the Princess Rapunzel, now married to her son; technically her daughter-in-law was standing at the door. Wilhelmina felt a warm tug in her heart and felt like extending her hug to Rapunzel but the princess hugged her first. Despite this, Wilhelmina did not to notice that the entrance to her door was surrounded by the kingdom's guards. And the hug was not a happy, celebratory hug.

"What's wrong, Your Highness?"

"I lost him - I lost your son," Rapunzel whispered.

"What? He's gone? One night after his wedding?" Wilhelmina began to think that Eugene had inherited a recessive gene in her pairing with Sir Herbert, the gene to habitually disappear.

"It's not like that, Wila. The woman Gothel is back from the dead and he went to find her."

Wilhelmina drew a sharp breath. Her intuition was correct. She had felt her son's aura drifting away only to chide herself that it was some form of jealousy that he belonged to someone else. How could she envy the happiness of a child who never belonged to her belong when he belonged to someone else? And now she knew that her intuition about her son was never wrong. Her Eugene was in trouble.

"We must find him," Rapunzel implored. Wilhelmina closed her eyes and summoned all the sensitivities in her being to become her judgement. She had no more sorcery magic in her, but the promise she made enabled her to follow his life force.

"And I'm taking all the guards with us," Rapunzel said with determination. Wilhelmina smiled weakly and nodded. If only that many people were going to make the situation any better. The mission left the capital, the king himself at its helm and braced itself to follow the once a wizard Wilhelmina.

"But this will only slow us down," Wilhelmina said after she climbed on her own chestnut horse.

"We'll ride ahead, but where to?" Rapunzel asked.

"Gothel's old tower. The place she kept you."

"But, the place had crumbled to the ground."

"I know. History has a funny way for repeating itself."

The two rode ahead, the hooves of their white and reddish brown rides thundering on the cobblestone pavements of the capital.

xox

Eugene finally arrived at the boxed in valley that would bring him to the tower. It seemed just like yesterday that he entered the small cave, ducking from the crazy horse Maximus, who happened to be his ride now, and arrived at the compound of his now bride's prison. At the moment, he was facing the same sight that he came upon months ago, and reality crashed on him in layers of heavy memories. He almost lost his sense of time. The questions of where and when swum in his mind, like he was thinking through a fog in his head. The late auttumn daylight was almost spent, but there was still brightness that allowed him see the figure standing on the stone base of the tower. It was her, Gothel, the one woman who had caused years and years of torment to his beloved and now if not stopped will cause a lifetime of misery to his family. Maximus neighed at the sight of the figure standing still a hundred yards away from them.

With her cape streaming out behind her, her black hair billowing in the fierce wind and her deep red dress, she was standing there like a sentinel. He came closer and knew that she was watching him, waiting for him. Eugene had everything he needed. He had all sorts of weaponry concealed in his person, but he doubted that they would do any good. But, no one could blame a man for trying.

Eugene patted Maximus on the flank.

"Sorry, Max. As usual, you can't come. If we do this often enough, maybe I can plan a way of how you could spend your time while waiting for me to come down from that tower." 

Max gave a look, that look. Eugene grimaced.

"Yeah, I should go."

Eugene left Maximus and headed towards the tower. He had to do this the gentlemanly way. He had to face her and talk to her. Their first meeting had been intense. And she ended a jilted woman and he, a dead man. He had never returned to a woman he was honestly did not want a relationship with. Gothel was the first. And he wanted her to be the last. There must be a good, diplomatic way to end all these torments, he thought. There must be something that Gothel wanted that can be given to her, Eugene was sure. All the while, he was getting closer to her. When she had a good look at him and she had ascertained his intentions of coming face to face with her, Gothel disappeared into the tower.

Eugene walked on and reached the bottom of the tower. There was an open door, creaking slightly in the wind, signalling that he was welcomed to enter. Breathing deep and steadying his nerves that were trembling with anger, Eugene ducked his head into the low opening and ascended the dark staircase.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: You could already guess that I'm not writing this for the reviews. But I love reviews and have always felt that I don't deserve them. But this story is reaching its inevitable end, so I'm more in need of reviews than ever before. Kindly give them before I close shop. Thanks.**

**Chapter 22**

The moment Eugene arrived at the landing which was the tower's living space, he was greatly cheered that no sharp pointy object was forced upon his flesh. Instead, he saw the woman Gothel seated in the green wooden chair which had been the spot hewas bound by Rapunzel's golden magical hair the first time he and his beloved wife met. Did he ever mention that it was love at first sight?

"Hi, handsome," Gothel sneered at him.

"Ugh," Eugene swore using only one syllable. He was never at loss for words when it comes to women. But this time he didn't have the mood to EXIST in the same physical plane with this woman.

"We haven't been properly introduced the first time we met," Gothel said with her eyes drawn to snake-like slits.

"You got that right," Eugene said, suddenly finding his wits.

"But by now, we both have known each other well enough to make introductions useful."

"Cut the crap, Gothel. What is it that you want?" Eugene cut her off cruelly, making the poisonous sweetness in Gothel's face disappear in an instant and it was replaced by simple, toxic hatred.

"Something that you won't like to give," Gothel seethed. Suddenly, Eugene felt his body shook and the weaponry that he had attached to every buckle, pocket and opening available on his person were dropping to the floor. He was now completely without any sort of arms on him.

"You haven't learnt anything from our last rendezvous!" Gothel sneered as the weaponry, knives, small blades, potato peeler, went flying out of the open window.

"I got to try," Eugene smirked.

"But you got to keep yours. That is so not fair," he continued, referring to Gothel's own dagger hanging by a beautiful ornamented belt on her waist. Gothel ignored him as she was concentrating on a silent incantation. A slithering sound of metal in motion made him turn around but it was too late. By some sort of poltergeist magic, Gothel had manipulated two long metal chains ended with four shackles, which promptly clamped on his hands and legs. An enormous pull made him fall on the floor. These snake-like things then dragged him to the foot of the stairs leading to the sleeping floor. The chains then bound itself in knots to the banister. Everything seemed to be like an endless horrific déjà vu to Eugene. He struggled because it was in his nature to struggle, but he knew that these shackles will not undo themselves unless Gothel is annihilated.

"Go on, end this, Gothel. You want your revenge. Kill me," Eugene said. In his desperation, he actually believed that he was ready for it. Ready for death that he so deserved. He had to finish what he started. He stole a woman's 'daughter', gave her his heart and then promised her a life of protection and security. This was going to be his last act to protect her and her new found family. And his own family. Family. The word saddened him greatly. He didn't deserve one. He was nothing. He was scum. Deserving only to live in the underbelly of the capital consisting of conspirators, robbers, thieves, con-men and the rest of the low-lifes. If there is a value to be placed on his life, it will not be worth one iota. Hell, even his own parents did not want him. Eugene gave a small laugh to himself.

"Kill you?" Gothel responded in genuine shock. And then she laughed. An honest laugh as if seeing a child making fool of himself. Eugene stared at her almost imploringly.

"How can you be so naive, Rider?"

"Huh?"

"Do you not remember anything? Do you not know anything?"

"What?"

"Whose name did I call when I saw you as a wraith?"

Eugene's memory travelled to the sweetly blissful night when his then future wife was studying his physique. The wraith had spoken his name, and Rapunzel had heard it too without knowing anything. Gothel's face showed that she knew he knew the answer.

"The night Faustilius tried to resurrect me and I wasn't resurrected instantly, whose blood was it being used?"

"Rapunzel's."

"A waste of time. And I was resurrected much later, fully human. If it wasn't for Faustilius who made his stupid promises to transfer his powers to me in death, I would have been completely useless!" Gothel said angrily.

"Go on," Eugene encouraged her, trying very hard to understand everything that had transpired.

"Remember when I infiltrated the castle and you slit my throat?"

"I will not apologize for that, even on the pain of death," Eugene said with a smirk.

"I was healed because YOU did it."

"What?" Eugene gasped, his brows in knots.

"I was able to apparate because YOU were so NEAR to me."

"Wha-?" The truth dawned on Eugene like he realised he had just swallowed poison. The knowledge fell on him like giant timbers. Pain eating away at his heart, he strengthened his mind to ask.

"Why?"

"I was bound to you by anger, malice and vengeance. I would have burn in Hell right now with my anger and malice and vengeance if I wasn't resurrected. But it seems that Fate has more for me," Gothel said, glorying with every word she said.

"This can't be happening," Eugene uttered thinly. No longer thinking about the victory achieved by Gothel, his thoughts were for his beloved wife Rapunzel. He was thinking about her being terrorised by Gothel and HER children put at risk every second of their lives. And then, her elderly parents, who had been so generous to him, breaking and sickly under the strain of worry for their daughter's and grandchildren's safety. Until one day, they fell fatally sick with chagrin and never got better and died in sadness.

"You, Flynn Rider, is my flower now."

"No..." Eugene whispered thinly to himself.

"And your purity, lucky me, will grant me eternal life and boundless power."

Eugene shook his head. This was getting worse as she goes along. All his profound morals about being pure until he finds true love despite his dangerous lifestyle had turned itself on its head. He should have knocked up everything that could walk just to spite Gothel if he only knew. Curses!

Gothel took out a vial of potion from the revealing neck line of her dress and opened it. With her surprising strength, she cupped his face and forced open his mouth. The liquid coming from the vial dripped into his mouth. Eugene spat it out, as much as he could.

"The most powerful aphrodisiac the dark world had ever known was in that bottle. One drop and you shall be my slave!"

Gothel fell on Eugene and forced her lips upon his. She was so carried away in the ecstasy of victory that she did not know that Flynn Rider had one more trick up his thieving sleeves. He had concealed a skeleton key in his sleeve, literally, and had managed to unshackle one hand. That free hand snatched the dagger at Gothel's waist. Gothel stopped kissing Eugene when she felt the dagger's cruel tip was placed on her throat.

"You know that killing me would be futile," she breathed hoarsely.

"Kill you? Naht, I'm SO through with that," Eugene gloated.

In one swift motion, he turned the knife away from Gothel, to himself. With the kind if strength he never knew he had, he plunged the blade under his ribs, where the flesh was unhindered by bones and then, pushed the blade up, way up so it could reach his beating heart.

"Die, *itch!" He said.


	23. Chapter 23

**InkSpellWeaver** put me up to this – to write an ending where everything goes terribly wrong. Thank you all very much, **An Unknown Foreign Beauty, forgetmenotjimmy, the139Blossom, InkSpellWeaver, NikkyPickles, Spring-Heel-Jacqueline, Soccermustang, AIOFanNCRM, Romance and Musicals, Lady with a veil, Funkywatermelon, Nausiccaa of the Spirits, **my readers who have stuck with me. I'm a first timer in fanfic, so me getting 55 reviews is like a miracle. Anyway, the torture from me will be over soon.

**Chapter 23**

Wilhelmina and Rapunzel arrived at the hidden valley that was the said location of the tower. It was Rapunzel's home for eighteen years, and taking the road home, on her own volition, without coercion or being fed with lies, made the scenery changed. Or was it just her feeling sick to the bones? The cavalry was just a few minutes behind them, and Rapunzel was glad she had the few minutes head start with Wilhelmina. What better partner she could ask for as company in this mission but Eugene's own mother, who happened to be a former wizard? When she and Wilhelmina entered the small tunnel that led to the green field which is the tower's compound, Rapunzel was baffled.

"Wila, I can't see the tower!"

_Oh no_. Wilhelmina sighed in her already heavy heart. It seemed that ordinary human eyes could not see the tower. A question arose in Wilhelmina's mind. How could Gothel be so powerful when she thought that the resurrection had been impossible and therefore had failed? Now, not only Gothel had been resurrected but her powers were also increased by the tenfold. Her source of power must be very near, Wilhelmina thought. In fact, Gothel's source of power was likely already in her clutches. She shuddered to think what Gothel's source of power is and she did not want to dwell into such dark thoughts now. She could not take the risk to despair at the moment when she needed herself to be strong.

"Follow me," Wilhelmina said she took Rapunzel's hand in hers toward the tower that only her wizardly eyes could see. When they were close enough, the barrier of power constructed by manipulated light and air, the cold and heat, things that made mirages, disappeared. Rapunzel was able to see it as it was supposed to be seen. A thin, long bone of grey stones. The sight of the tower, more menacing now that leaves and flowers of summer creepers climbing its wall were gone, sent a chill down Rapunzel's spine.

The sound of the approaching cavalry was getting louder. But the two were already running towards the tower. Wilhelmina, who knew the truth had no control over her desperate action. Rapunzel shared her feeling even though the truth was vague to her. They could not wait one second longer. But Wilhelmina was suddenly thrown to the ground as if she had run into a solid wall that could not be seen. What cruel sorcery is this? When one could not see the tower, she must enter it. And one who could see it, could not enter it. Wilhelmina's heart cried in the darkest form of wailing.

"Oh Eugene," Wilhelmina gasped. Seeing the horrific scene of falling and despairing, Rapunzel knew exactly what was happening. Gothel had put a spell against wizards outside the tower.

"I will go in," Rapunzel said to her reassuringly. "Show the guards where the entrance as soon as they get here."

"Be careful, Your Highness."

Rapunzel nodded and sprinted to the tower's entrance. Wilhelmina watched her daughter-in-law, her son's life; walk into the most treacherous place on God's Earth. Her heart was torn apart. She remembered the last time she let that happened at the evil wizard Faustilius' cave. Rapunzel was hurt to the point of dying. And it hurt Eugene as much too. She did not think that Rapunzel could survive another trial like that. She had always believed her son was able to take care of himself, watch his own back, and wiggle his out of the stickiest situation. He was a true survivor. But Rapunzel? Now that her magical hair was gone, she is open to imminent danger. Rapunzel was as much a daughter to her as Eugene was her son. It was the most painful choice she had to make. And she had so little counsel on which one to make now. But she had to make the decision now. Another second passed in vain might cost something she could not replace with all the stories of redemption she was able to put down in words.

Wilhelmina closed her eyes. She is not going to just sit there and wait like a fool like she did last time. This is the moment that she had been promised when she asked for her one chance at redemption. With a costly price only she knew.

She had been given one chance to choose the moment of life and death of a person. She had pondered over this for a long, long time and she had set in her mind that she would use her promised gift to save the life of someone she had left behind, stole from and abandoned - her very own son. But at this crucial moment, she had made her choice. She would choose the death of her son's most dangerous enemy. She would choose the moment of death for Gothel, so she could rescue all. In a low lilting voice, Wilhelmina sang her promised incantation.

_The eclipse of the century_

_ A promise to the good heart of sorcery_

_ Grant me the gift to see_

_ Gothel dies and never will again be!_

The song diminished in the wind and Wilhelmina breathed in as if expecting her life taken away from her body. With bewildered eyes, she stepped forward and touched the invisible wall that she had ran into previously. Her mind was fraught with thoughts unravelling but when her hand touched and found out that nothing of such wall existed, her grim pale face broke into a glorious smile. The barrier against wizards was gone! Her incantation had worked. The promise had been done. Gothel is dead; therefore the invisible wall was finally destroyed. The tower now had come into its full terrible existence to all eyes that could see. Wilhelmina's heart bloomed. She ran to the tower.

She prepared herself for the happiest reunion of her life.

"Eugene, my son!" She called out joyfully to the wind.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Eugene!" Rapunzel called out in the dim light at the staircase. There was no answer and she gained more speed. The fear she was experiencing is palpable. It tasted like blood at the back of her tongue. But she steadied herself as she ran up the stairs. The moment she reached the landing of the living space, the sight knocked the breath out of her lungs.

Gothel was so close to Eugene that she seemed to be clamped to his face. The two of them were on the exact spot next to the banister, where Eugene had bled out the last time she, her and him were in the tower.

"Eugene-" Rapunzel whispered his name, aghast. She thought that the horrific sight was a sick joke played out to scare her, to make her give up on his love. But when she saw a glint from a dagger in Eugene's hand, pushed against Gothel's throat, her heart leapt in a way that she did not know how to describe. In split second, numerous possibilities existed. But she was not prepared when she saw Eugene pushing the dagger into his own chest. She almost thought it was some trick he did, just one of his overdramatic acts. But when she saw Gothel's reaction to that sudden turn of event, she knew that it was real.

"NOOOOO!" Gothel screamed as she clawed at his hand which was holding the dagger. Eugene was pushing it deeper with great difficulty as his arm began to shake caused by the pain spreading from his chest to his whole body. As the blade began its work destroying Eugene's strength, Gothel's body began to change. She became decrepit and withered, but still very much alive and real. She touched Eugene's chest in a kind of horrific desperation. It was as if she could bandage and heal Eugene's dagger-struck chest, she would.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel rushed to Eugene's side after she managed to de-entrance herself from this paralyzing scene. She pushed the drying wood of human menace called Gothel away from her suffering beloved husband.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY EUGENE!" Rapunzel screamed.

Eugene had propped his back against the unrelentingly strong banister. As he pushed the dagger deeper inside himself, the weakness and the slack in his whole being caused by the intense pain did nothing to allow his body to resist the penetration.

Gothel, old and sickly looking now, offered no resistance. She fell onto the floor. Gothel held up her disintegrating hand and looked at it in horror.

"No, it's too soon! Too soon! He is still alive! I can save him! NOOOOOO!" Gothel wailed.

She withered and withered and suddenly, faster than Rapunzel thought possible, turned to dust, leaving behind her cloak and dress. The dust drifted into the fierce wind that blew from the window. At last, Eugene could no longer stand the sensation of fire and ice in his centre. He stopped pushing but his hand was still on the dagger's handle. Distracted by his own shuddering, finally, he saw his beloved wife so close to him.

"Rapunzel," he called out to her in saddening regret.

"I don't want you to see me like this."

"She's gone, Eugene. Gothel's gone!" Rapunzel said as she brushed errant strands of brown hair from his pale face.

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel, I'm so sorry," Eugene breathed out in gasps. Rapunzel could see that he was in pain so excruciating that he began to struggle against it. The wound he so passionately inflicted on himself, now was in his desperate clutching.

"Shh, everything's going to be okay now," Rapunzel said. She had tears in her eyes but her hands were deftly working to save him. She removed his shaking hand from the wound as he gasped painfully. Using her thick shawl, she wrapped it around the blade and pressed the fabric close to his chest, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"Take it out, Rapunzel. The pain, it's too much- ugh!" Eugene begged her as his body trembled even more.

"No Eugene. I can't do that. You'll bleed even more," Rapunzel tried to reason with him even though that she could see that he was breaking into pieces right in front of her.

"It h-hurts," he stammered.

"Please, trust me!" Rapunzel cried those words out. Unexpectedly, with one last surge of energy, Eugene moved his hand and pulled the accursed dagger out of his chest, simultaneously opening the wound and so came out his lifeblood running from its source. Eugene's body lost all strength and he dropped to the floor. The dagger fell with a cold clatter to the hardwood floor.

"No, Eugene, no!" Rapunzel gasped. She gathered him in her arms and propped his head on her lap. Her one hand now clutching his chest wound. And the other, binding the shawl around his chest.

The sound of footsteps of a person in a hurry came closer and closer. It was Wilhelmina.

"What?" Wilhelmina yelled in despair when she saw the terrifying scene.

"But Gothel is dead! It was a promise to me that she will die!" She screamed.

There was so much despair in her voice that it curdled Rapunzel's blood. Rapunzel had no time to explain. They must do something other than crying and wailing and despairing.

"But – but – how?" Wilhelmina was panicking. It was as if she was going crazy thinking things that Rapunzel did not fully understand.

"Wila!" Rapunzel yelled at her mother-in-law. The woman regained her errant mind. They both exchanged looks that signalled defeat and acceptance.

"Hold his hand," Rapunzel whispered. Wila approached Eugene.

"Rapunzel," Eugene whispered. Rapunzel saw a trickle of blood coming from one corner of his mouth. She had no way of telling until what point the dagger had reached, but she knew that it had cut into his lungs. Eugene began to cough violently.

"No, Eugene, stay with me. Stay with me Eugene!"

"I don't think you can fix this one, Blondie," Eugene sighed and coughed.

"You must get through this. There is so much for you live for. I've got someone you should meet," Rapunzel said with the best smile she could fake. Wilhelmina came closer to Eugene so he could see her with his weakening perception. Wilhelmina held his cold, trembling hand and put it on her cheek.

"Mama?" Eugene said, as if begging for something. Somehow, an ancient memory had been stirred in his clouded mind.

"Eugene, my baby," Wilhelmina said, her heart torn as if by a cruel shard of glass.

"Don't leave me, mama," Eugene begged her.

Wilhelmina was brought back to the day when she had put him in greying brown swaddling cloth and left him at the doorsteps of the Children of Magdalene's Orphanage. As she walked away from him, he awakened. He wailed like a hungry monkey, his small white arms flailing at her. _I'm sorry, I'm sorry,_ she said. She walked away from the child she had conceived with love and brought into this world with struggle. His tiny voice became fainter as their distance grew and Wilhelmina waited and watched behind an ancient tree across the street until a staff of the shelter came out, discovered him and took him in with violent cursing and grunting.

"No, I won't leave, my little Eugene," Wilhelmina said as she stroke his perspiring forehead. Eugene's breathing became laboured as the seconds passed. Rapunzel managed to staunch the bleeding but she feared that the bleeding had found its way to flood inside his body. Eugene seemed to be losing all he had and closed his eyes.

"Eugene, stay with me!"

With a Herculean effort, he opened his eyes and moved his lips.

"Promise me, Rapunzel," he said, each word an immense torture.

"What?" Rapunzel cried softly. _Where the hell is everybody! Why is it taking foever!_ She screamed in her heart, still stubbornly expecting a miracle to happen.

"Promise me - that you will live - magnificently," he said in a trembling voice.

"No, Eugene. No. Don't make do this," Rapunzel cried.

"Promise me, uh," Eugene begged and gasped. He was fading fast and he was only hanging on to hear that promise. Rapunzel understood. She nodded even though she did not want to. She wanted to take that evil dagger and plunge it into her heart. She wanted to die with him and never have any of this evil world any more.

But he was begging her to make that promise. His dying wish.

"I promise," Rapunzel said. Eugene gave a weak smile.

"I love you, Rapunzel," he whispered. One final exhalation escaped his lips and he became still. No more trembling, no more pain. It was an ending in the form of the most exquisite of release.

"I love you, Eugene," Rapunzel whispered softly to his already soundless ears.

She wanted him to hear it more than ever. Feeling like she had been through this so many times, Rapunzel was still amazed at how the pain of hurting in her heart was more intense than when it happened the first time. The first time she lost him, she had known him for only two days, and it was unbearable to live without him for that brief space of time. Now, she had known all that was good about him. She was reminded of his awkward humour, his strange winning handsome look he called the 'smolder', his generosity, his humility, his heroic sacrifices, his summer air musky smell, his straight broad shoulders, his long strides, his magnificently sculpted solar plexus, his curious navel and the treasure underneath it, his everything and all that were gifts to her. All now beyond her reach.

Tears came flowing uncontrollably from her eyes. Rapunzel traced her finger on his exquisite face, beautiful even in the coldness of death. His strong brows and perfectly formed nose, his beautiful pinkish lips, now tired grey, his chiselled cheeks and his curiously amusing goatee. She touched his chest, which housed the strongest heart she had ever known. Then she touched his torso, so beautifully formed that it was a guilty pleasure secret that only she knew. Finally, she rested her hand on his chest as if trying to erase out the fatal wound with her breath. There was no song in her now. Nothing escaped her lips except low sobs. Her tears were streaming now, not in stingy little drops but a small that flowed freely on him, but with no miraculous results. The world had ended for her, except for that little promise he made her utter.

What seemed to take forever in the tower happened in mere minutes outside. The guards arrived and raced into the tower. King Basilius was at the fore. When he reached the landing, he saw the women. One holding Eugene Fitzherbert's limp hand and another cradling his body. There were no words coming from his daughter and Miss Wilhelmina, and Fitzherbert himself was unusually quiet. With a realization so paralyzing that he almost lost his balance, the King turned and said to his men.

"We'll wait outside."

The King and the guards ascended the tower and waited outside, giving the women all the time in the world to grieve. The world was getting darker, swallowed by nightfall.

After a while, Wilhelmina, her eyes red and swollen but she was done crying, said to Rapunzel.

"We can't leave him like this. We have to take Eugene home."

"I will stay with him," Rapunzel said, tears still flowing from her eyes.

"You made a promise to him that you will live magnificently," Wilhelmina implored to Rapunzel.

"And I never break a promise," Rapunzel said, as if she had awaken from a sad and tearful dream.

"He knew that. That is why he made you promise him such."

"I don't think I can do this," Rapunzel said.

"I can't go out there alone. I need your strength too," Wilhelmina held out her hand to Rapunzel. Rapunzel nodded half-heartedly. Gently she lifted Eugene's head and rested him on the cold floor. She put his splayed bloody hands on his chest and torso, like a knight sleeping. She got up as Wilhelmina held her hand. But her head went spinning as she got up and she felt to the floor in a heap. Rapunzel was overwhelmed with sadness that she almost lost consciousness.

"Oh, he stabbed himself so Gothel would die. He saved us all," Rapunzel whispered.

"I know, child. I know," Wilhelmina said as an effort to comfort her. Wilhelmina arranged Rapunzel so she'd be by Eugene's side. She knew that Rapunzel needed more time with him. Wilhelmina left the room, feeling a thousand years old. She walked out into the night.

"I defy you, stars!" Wilhelmina yelled to the wind once she was standing outside, on the tower's stone base.

"No mother should bury her child!"

The King and the guards saw and heard this spectacle and had nothing they could say, even in their hearts. The world was in mourning for Eugene Fitzherbert, the greatest hero the kingdom had ever known. The greatest king the kingdom would otherwise have had.

THE END

**A/N: Readers who relish tragedies, this is your last chapter. Do not read further chapters under this title.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: For those who thought Chapter 24 is a fake ending.**

**Chapter 25**

_Six years later..._

A five year old boy was made standing in front of a long mirror by his mother. She was smoothing and tidying up the ruffles at his neck. And then, a chamber maid held out a hat for her.

"Do you want a hat to cover the prince's head, Your Highness?" The chamber maid asked the mother of the lime green-eyed boy.

The woman referred as 'Your Highness' by the chambermaid pondered this and demurred.

"It's not too sunny out there," she said, "besides, Prince Flynnegan loves to show around his bald head to the grounds men. They will probably call him 'Baldie'."

"Where are we going, Momma?" Prince Flyneggan asked his mother as he rubbed his own newly shorn head.

"We are going to the cemetery," his mother answered with a sigh.

"What is a cemetery?"

"That is the place where dead people are buried."

"What are we going to do there?"

"We are going to visit one of the graves."

"Graves?"

"Oh, I forgot that this is your first time going there. Your father won't let you go to the cemetery until you're old enough to know the story that changed our lives. The story of how you got your name."

"Momma, what are 'graves'?"

"Graves are little places where dead people are buried."

"Why do we visit them graves?"

"Because we want to remember what the dead had done for us. And we want to tell them that we love them."

"Can they hear us?"

"No. Not really. But I don't know, Flynn. Not for sure," the young woman said. She paused and finally continued.

"Truthfully, it doesn't matter if they hear us or not. The most important thing is that we tell ourselves that we loved them. And we are going to love them forever, even when they are no longer with us," she said and stopped because she felt something agonizing had risen in her throat.

"Come on, we mustn't waste anymore time. The carriage is waiting," she said, inhaling deeply and holding her son's shoulders. Prince Flynnegan ran ahead of his mother, who was too slow for his liking. The long corridor seemed lonely except for the occasional guards. Suddenly, the young mother saw her father the King emerged from the conference room. The moment he set his eyes on his daughter, he walked towards her.

"Where are you going on the morning of your son's birthday, Rapunzel?"

"We're going to the Weeping Fields."

"The cemetery?"

The young mother, Princess Rapunzel nodded without a word.

"And you're not going to wait for your husband?" The King asked further, one eyebrow lifted.

"Oh Father, you know how he hates the cemetery. He hates everything about it. You know that he still can't get over the incident and me naming our firstborn Flynnegan," Rapunzel explained begrudgingly. King Basilius was surprised by this show of temper. He decided to just humour his daughter and one of her moods.

"Yes, I understand. I understand how he feels about the whole Flynn Rider thing. That is very hard to top, no matter what one does."

"I just wish that he accepts who he is," Rapunzel continued with her melancholy complaints. Her father, who decided to give the man, Rapunzel's poor suffering husband some credit.

" But he is a good man, Rapunzel. A good husband and a good father."

"But you wish he is just someone else?" The Queen who had emerged from the conference room later than her husband, but had gotten the gist of the conversation, chipped in.

"No, Mother. I wish that he could just be happy. Be truly happy for what he has now and what he is. And not dwell on my past," Rapunzel said as she almost broke into tears. Shocked at her own acute sensitivity, Rapunzel sucked in her breath and smiled regretfully at her parents.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know what have gotten over me. Maybe it's just the thought of going to the cemetery, to remember it all over again."

"We understand your feelings. Do you want us to come with you to the Weeping Fields?" The Queen offered her company.

"No, mother. I need to go through this on my own," Rapunzel declined determinedly.

"Be safe then. Do not be too hard on yourself, dear," the Queen said as she pulled her daughter into her arms and hugged her.

"I will try," Rapunzel sobbed.

The King and Queen watched their daughter walked to the castle lobby and boarded a carriage with their grandson. Six guards on horseback accompanied the carriage to the Weeping Fields.

"She is suffering, Annalise," King Basilius said to his queen.

"This could only mean one thing," Queen Annalise said.

"We must tell the Prince Consort the truth. We both know what the cause of this suffering is. He must accept the truth and be her strength even if he is not prepared for it."

"If he returned in time for the annual visit. He's not very good with the cemetery thing."

"He better get used to it, now that Rapunzel is introducing the grave to Prince Flynnegan."

"Flynnegan!" The King sighed at the mention of that illustrious name.

" By the way, did you notice that our grandson is bald?"

"Yes."

"The irony is killing me."

"Be patient, my Lord. This is only just the beginning," Queen Annalise held his husband's strong arm tightly and leaned her head on his shoulder.

On the road to the Weeping Fields, Rapunzel was crying freely. Strangely, Flynnegan did not bother to ask. It was as if he was used to her mother's magnificent crying these past few days. The panorama which consisted of ancient trees lining up a melancholy shady road, and finally into the field scattered with more gnarled ancient trees and the greying sky in late summer did not help to cheer Rapunzel's countenance. When they arrived at the cemetery, hand in hand, mother and son approached a waist tall stone marker made of black granite. It was plain, but polished. But Rapunzel did not know how long the sheen will last. Twenty years? Fifty years? A hundred years? But she knew the sadness will, even further. A thousand years maybe.

"Here, Flynn. Take these flowers and put them on the stone base," Rapunzel said as she held out a basket of flowers to Prince Flynnegan.

"OK, momma."

Little Prince Flynnegan began putting the flowers gently on the stone base, one by one. The flowers, made of many kinds, were put into a random pattern.

"Like the lanterns on a black sky," Rapunzel said dreamily.

"Like white and yellow flowers on black stone," she continued. In mere minutes, Flynn had finished with the flowers and he started to fidget.

"Flynn, will you wait for me? I want to stay awhile," Rapunzel said and sat on the grass next to the stone markers.

"But, I've got no more flowers," Little Flynn moaned.

"You can get more. There are a lot around the cemetery," Rapunzel said. Little Prince Flynn ran away from his mother yelling 'yay'! Rapunzel's face twisted painfully at the yelling. She was suddenly brought back to a past so elusively sweet yet at the same time, painfully bitter. She was not worried of her little prince's safety, though. The guards were everywhere outside the cemetery gates. That was just protocol. They were truly safe, since that fateful night six years ago. Thanks to Eugene.

"Oh Eugene, I missed you so much. You've been gone for so long!" Rapunzel whispered. Her hand delicately touched the surface of the stone base.

"If only I could change the past," Rapunzel whispered some more, tears running down her face.

"And make you stay here with me."

"Momma! Momma!"

Rapunzel turned around when she heard Prince Flynnegan yelling.

"Daddy's here! Daddy's home!"

"Is he now?" Rapunzel smiled bitterly and she wiped the tears on her face. She sucked in the blocking in her nose and throat and forced a smile.

_Here he comes._ Her long suffering husband. Just because she never could forget Flynn Rider.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"Daddy! Daddy!" Flynnegan held out his arms as he ran towards his father, who had just gotten down from a magnificent white stallion.

"Flynn!" The man shouted as he cupped the boy by his armpits and flung him into the air. Prince Flynnegan squealed in absolute glee as he flew in the grasps of his father's strong arms.

"I missed you so much," the man said and paused.

"Wait, what happened to your hair? That is too little hair!" Flynnegan's father asked after he got through the fact that his son had had his hair shorn to its roots, leaving otherwise the glorious head of dark brown hair with nothing.

"Don't tell me you've got," the man speculated, his eyes wide with horror. He set the boy on the ground and the boy ran away when he saw his mother approaching.

"Cooties!" Rapunzel interjected and started complaining to her husband's despair.

"That's what you get when you bring your son to the orphanage to play with the wards."

"Oh Rapunzel. Your never complained about that before. In fact, you love it when I brought him there. By the way," he said and held her close by the waist and stole a kiss from her lips. Rapunzel pushed him back, only after he got what he wanted.

"Ouch, you're testy this morning!"

"Yes! No! Yes! Ahh!" Rapunzel moaned angrily.

"I'm so mad at you. But I don't know why. You've been gone for so long. Ugh, I feel like clonking you with a frying pan, but then I can't let you out of my sight – ugh, this is so complicated!" Rapunzel said as she switched back and forth between rapidly changing emotions. All of the sudden, the Prince Consort saw that his wife was about to cry when just seconds before she was angry. He held her close while she struggled to be free.

"I'm here now, Princess. The orphanage has been completely upgraded. It's got a new wing, and there's a library and these new baths that are absolutely sanitary. And all is done!"

"You didn't have to be gone for the whole week!" Rapunzel yelled. Thank goodness Prince Flynnegan was yards away with his new pursuit.

"I've got to make sure that everything's perfect. No so-called noblemen stealing the taxpayers' money that is meant to help the community. That is what being a Prince Consort means, not just lounging around, learning etiquette, learning fencing and eating sandwiches and scones. This is what it means to be a royalty, Rapunzel. You know that."

"But I missed you so much!"

And just like that, his wife was being emotionally attached to him again after that feisty show of temper as if she wasn't going to let him go. A thought so horrifying crossed his mind.

"Your parents were right," the Prince Consort said, deep in thought as he held Rapunzel's chin.

"About what?" Rapunzel asked testily.

"By the way, I stopped at the castle before I rushed here. And your parents told me something that I needed to know."

"You mean, about what is happening to us? We are unhappy! That is the truth."

"No, they told me about what's happening to you."

"So, this is all my fault?"

"Yes. The depression, the mood swing, the melancholy and the overdramatic acts."

"You think that I'm making this up?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"I think, and everybody thinks that you're PREGNANT!"

"What?"

"Yes, darling. You're pregnant with our second child," The Prince Consort said and held her close to his chest. Suddenly, the cold and barbed wire wall in Rapunzel's heart fell asunder. The next thing she knew, she was crying. The Prince Consort rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her.

"So, are we going to do this? Introducing Flynnegan to the grave?" He asked finally.

Choked back by her tears, Rapunzel could only nod. The Prince Consort sighed heavily. _This is going to be a long day_, he said in his heart.

"Flynn!" The Prince Consort called to his son, who was determinedly trying to pursue something among the rocks in the bushes. The little prince gave a squeal.

"Coming, Daddy!" He yelled as he came running to his parents.

"What's that?" The Prince Consort saw a slimy green thing in his son's hands, clamped between dirty fingers.

"It's a frog!" He squealed excitedly.

"Yay!" The Prince Consort squealed in turn. Rapunzel shook her head.

"It's a chameleon, boys!" She said.

"Nuance!" Both of them said in a chorus.

Prince Flynnegan kept the chameleon in his pocket. His father held him by the shoulders and led him to the black stone marker that he had visited with his mother.

"Come, Flynnegan. Daddy want to introduce you to a very important member of our family."

"Who?"

"Your grandmother. My mother. Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare."

Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert, his wife Princess Rapunzel and the young Prince Flynnegan sat cross-legged on the grassy ground in front of the tombstone. It was going to be a long session of reminiscing and remembering and putting back together painful memories. The princess was resting her head on her husband's shoulder, suddenly weakened by the revelation to the cause of her melancholia and abject emotional disorder. It was just as bad as when she was carrying Flynnegan. But it never stopped her from coming on to Eugene like a madwoman. That crazily beautiful solar plexus and those addictive scars and that puzzler of a belly button! She swore.

"How did she die?"

"Well, it's a long story and a very sad one, but I'll make it short and it will get better at the end. Are you ready, Flynn?"

Prince Flynnegan nodded. Eugene took a deep breath and began retelling the saddest, most perplexing day of his life.

"One day, during a great adventure, I got hurt pretty bad," Prince Consort Eugene narrated to his child.

"Hurt? Pretty bad?" Rapunzel choked at those words. Eugene just ignored her.

"I got hurt when I was fighting against a very bad person."

"Fighting? Like with swords and stuff?" Flynnegan asked excitedly.

"Yeah, some sort of like that," Eugene agreed. He liked the idea even though it was not completely true.

"Huh!" Rapunzel clicked her tongue.

"But you're not supposed to get hurt. Flynn Rider never got hurt," little Flynnegan complained.

"This is different. I thought if I get hurt, the said bad person will stop hurting people, and I was correct."

"So you let yourself get hurt?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Eugene paused, thinking back of the things that made him made that decision. That time, it felt so real. Now, it seemed that all was like from a bad dream of long ago. Even if it was not for the tombstone etched with the words 'Wilhelmina Marlowe-Shakespeare, Loving Mother' it all could have remained a bad dream.

"But your grandmother, she was there too."

"With you? Like momma always follow me around?"

"Not like that. But yeah, she was with me that time. And your momma too."

"That is not cool."

"Yeah, yeah," Eugene said rolling his eyes and he continued.

"But your grandmother was a wizard."

"A wizard?"

"Yes! I told you this story's gonna get better."

"Wow!"

"She casted a spell to stop the bad person. But since I already hurt myself to stop the bad person, her spell was wasted."

"What happened to you, daddy?"

"I was hurt really bad. Everyone thought that I was not going to get well ever again."

Rapunzel was amazed by how such terrifying event could sound so effortlessly soothing through Eugene's words. He was not 'hurt really bad'. He was not 'not going to get well ever again'. He was already dead. Stone cold dead. Dead as a doornail. His struggle against the hurt he was inflicted with was spectacular. And he lost against it spectacularly. That promise, his final breath. He is such a drama king!

"But then your grandmother remembered that the spell she had is to take life and give life."

"Woah."

Rapunzel remembered how heavy and silent the loneliness was in the company of Eugene's cold and prone form, until she was disturbed by the manic shouting from Wilhelmina as she ran up the dark stairs of the tower. The woman was saying 'the gift of taking life and giving life' and in return she should have her life forfeit. The woman kept saying that she should have died the moment the spell had worked on Gothel. That was what the promise wanted in return. For the gift, Wilhelmina must give up her life. And Wilhelmina was still alive after Gothel died. Of course, that time it didn't make sense to Rapunzel because she was in a stupor of deadly sadness. Then Wilhelmina took Eugene's limp form in her arms away from Rapunzel in manic possessiveness that made her irrationally envious. Wilhelmina sang to her son's cold dead body, her voice triumphant and rejoicing.

_I promised my soul to give_

_ For my only child to live_

_ Let him survive and believe_

_ In his mother's redeeming gift._

"And your grandma ran back to me and sang another spell and I was well again."

"But what happened to her?"

"Well, that kind of power did not come for free. She helped to make me well and because of that all of my hurt went to her; and she died.

There were moments after the incantation was sung when Rapunzel started shedding tears again, spellbound by a grieving mother's desperation. But next, she saw white light enveloping Wilhelmina's body as she began to grimace as if she was in terrible pain. Suddenly, Eugene began to stir. Rapunzel called his name in amazement. She held his face as he opened his eyes. He called her name too. But their entranced gazes into each other's eyes were distracted by the light coming from Wilhelmina's body. Eugene called out to her, his arms reaching out to hers, but he was too weak from his wounds and from the exertion of such tragedy. Both of them could only watch helplessly as Wilhelmina began to lose her corporeal form and slowly turned into mist.

Momma, don't leave! Eugene whispered hoarsely.

Goodbye my child, Wilhelmina said wordlessly. And she disappeared, leaving behind the clothes that she was wearing in a heap on the floor. She was gone. She gained her redemption. She was finally free.

"Poor grandma," Prince Flynnegan said.

"But then for what she did for me, I and your momma got to have you, and see you born into the world," Eugene said, ending the story with a sigh.

"Yay!" The little prince yelled triumphantly.

"And soon, you're going to have a little sister," Eugene said to his son.

"Really?"

"Or a little brother," Eugene demurred.

"Do you have any idea what to name our new baby, Princess?" Eugene asked Rapunzel. With a choke, the princess answered.

"Wila for a girl, and Wilhem for a boy," she said and just like that, Rapunzel was crying on Eugene's shoulder at the end of the story. She had become uncontrollable. Eugene kissed her head lightly.

"Oh Eugene, I can't stand it. One moment I was fine, and the next I get angry and later I will be crying like I've got onions stuck in my eyes."

"I understand. It's difficult, but we're going to get through this together. This is our new dream."

"Promise me that you won't leave me again."

"Not if I can help it, yes, I promise."

Rapunzel understood and it was reason enough that Eugene said it that way, them having been through things that they couldn't prevent. But for that moment, everything was perfect. No one knew how long it was going to last, but that moment was all they have got.

"So, is this happily ever after?" She asked him, eyes imploring.

"Most definitely, yes," he answered, kissing the lips of his one and only dream, boy, baby, mood swings and all.

THE END, REALLY!

A/N: Seriously, who can deny Rapunzel and Eugene their happily ever after? Thank you dear readers, **An Unknown Foreign Beauty, forgetmenotjimmy, the139Blossom, InkSpellWeaver, NikkyPickles, Spring-Heel-Jacqueline, Soccermustang, AIOFanNCRM, Romance and Musicals, Lady with a veil, Funkywatermelon, Nausiccaa of the Spirits, Sailor Dreamer95, SparkleWolf7000, readers who reviewed anonymously, readers who put the story on alert. **Till next time. Love you all!


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